The Return of Jess
by Holiday From Real
Summary: Our favorite person is back, Jessica, please read Outsider Jess before this, it'll be way easier to understand.
1. Wake Up Call

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Wake Up Call

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Summary- Our favorite person is back, Jessica, please read "Outsider Jess" before this, it'll be way easier to understand.

Note- You will have to read "Outsider Jess" to understand this. "New York" is an option. It's only if you want a better understanding of what happened. Thank you to everybody who reviewed "Outsider Jess" and asked for this sequel.

I got off the plane and got a cab to take me back to my house. It was still there, I was surprised it wasn't set on fire yet. I swung open the door and ran into the house. I noticed the smell right away. Smoke and alcohol, it smelt of smoke and alcohol. I inhaled deeply, I missed the scent. I noticed a man passed out on the couch. He had a beer on the table next to him and the television was on. I walked into the bedroom, Steve was still sleeping. I put my suitcase down and sat down on the bed next to him. Steve was a light sleeper, so the movement on the bed would wake him up. I was right, it did.

Steve slowly got up; his eyes were fixed on me. He rubbed them and then blinked a few times. He looked a little surprised that I was sitting on his bed.

"Jessica?" He asked sounding like he was half asleep, and I nodded.

"It's been seven damn months! Where the hell were you? We were gettin' worried somethin' happened to you! What happened to two weeks? Didn't you care about what other people thought?" It was seven months, and I had told them I would be gone only two weeks, but things happened. If they were worried so much, they could've called me.

"I know it's been seven months! Things happened to me, and it's hard to explain! If you guys were so worried, you could've called! I left the number near the phone!" I shouldn't have gotten angry at him. I stomped out of the room and headed to the Curtis house.

I opened the door carefully. I heard Darry trying to wake up Soda and Pony, they weren't morning people. I went into the room. I was getting good at waking people up this morning.

"Would ya wake up for me?" I asked jumping on to the bed in between Soda and Pony. Soda shot up.

"Darry, since when can you do impressions?" Soda asked. I rolled my eyes and turned him around. His eyes got big and he rubbed them and blinked like Steve had done.

"I'm back," I said and shook Ponyboy a little. Ponyboy and I didn't exactly see eye, and that was probably because I had mentioned his parents on one of my first days here. How was I supposed to know they were dead? Although, when Steve and I had a fight, he was on my side. At least, I think he was on my side. He had made a comment to Steve about how being treated like a baby is annoying. Ponyboy gave the reaction everybody else had, rubbed his eyes, and then blinked. Everybody did it, except Darry. He just nodded and left for the kitchen.

I sat at the kitchen table and watched Two-Bit walk in.

"Hello Darry, hello Jessica." Two-Bit was really drunk I guess, he just said that like I hadn't been gone seven months. He didn't rub his eyes and blink, he just said "hello Jessica" as if he had done it his whole life. I guess he missed me a lot.

"Hey Two-Bit," I said back and started to eat the scrambled eggs Darry had just placed in front of me. I was really hungry. I shoveled down the eggs and left before Steve came. I think he might be a little angry with me for yelling at him like that, but he shouldn't have yelled at me. I did come back, didn't I? I decided to go to The Dingo, maybe if I explained what happened to them, they would re-hire me. I was going to be 18 in a week and I needed a job.

They hired me from 11-4; so I would start work in about 3 hours. I walked to DX to see Soda and because it was Friday, there was school. Soda was standing near the pump.

"Hey Soda," I said.

"I can't believe your back. I thought I lost you like I had Sandy," he told me quietly and I felt really bad. This is what Steve meant by "Didn't you care about what other people thought?" Steve knew how Soda felt. He should've known; they are best friends. I didn't know about Sandy, I wasn't going to ask. She was probably a touchy subject.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked.

"No, it's only my first night back."

"Do you want to go to the movies for a food fight?" He asked. I nodded and smiled. I came back to this place to go to the movies with him. Well, that and other reasons.

"I'll pick you up at 6," he said and I nodded again. I think nod a lot, I don't talk much. Soda and I talked for the next 2 hours and a half, well he talked and I nodded, and then I started to walk to The Dingo for work.


	2. Work and a Date

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Work and a Date

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- I'm so happy! I finally got my own copy of The Outsiders! I've had the library's copy out for so long now. Thanks for online renewing!

I opened the door and went into the back of The Dingo. I was handed an order pad and a pen. I was a waitress back in New York; I was pretty good at it. I just hoped the short hand was the same. I walked over to a table. There was an older lady, probably around 50, and two kids, a girl and a boy. Both kids looked a like with brown hair and eyes. I figured they were twins I figured to be about 3 years old. I forced out a smile. 'Great, my first table is an old lady and two snot-nosed, sticky-fingered brats,' I thought.

"My name is Jessica, and I'll be your waitress for today," I said with a fake cheerfulness in my voice and a way-too-big-to-be-real smile. I took their orders and came back. I was gone about a minute when I heard the old lady's voice.

"Jessica, could you come here?" she said and walked over to the table. The little girl's chocolate milk was all over the place. I walked back and got her new chocolate milk and rolled my eyes when I was sure I couldn't be seen. I just hoped everyday wouldn't be like this. Around 12, they finally left. I walked over to a table and put on my smile and used my cheerful voice.

"Oh cut the crap, Jess, we know who you are," I heard a voice say. I looked at the table and saw three boys. Two-Bit, Steve, and Ponyboy, I guess they came during their lunch hour. I smacked Two-Bit, the owner of the voice, with the order pad. He rubbed the side of his head.

"Okay, so what do you want?" I asked using my real voice and taking away the smile. It had started to hurt my face. I took their order and came back. I sat down with them for a little while. I was next to Ponyboy, Steve and Two-Bit were sitting next to each other. I sat just to talk, and got up quickly when the manager looked at me. I couldn't be fired. They left and I went to go waitress another table.

This table had a mom and another snot-nosed, sticky-fingered brat. It was a girl with a whiney voice. She had blonde hair that curled in ringlets to her shoulders. The mom looked like she hadn't slept in days and was barely awake. He elbow was rested on the table and her hand held her head. She kept saying 'uh-huh' to whatever the girl said. I gave my cheerful voice and fake smile and said my greeting.

When work was over, I got home and took a shower. I looked in the kitchen closet or some food; I wasn't going to the movies on an empty stomach. If I did, I might eat my popcorn, and then Soda would have the upper hand in the food fight. I found some potato chips; I was addicted to potato chips. I drank some Pepsi; I like coke better than Pepsi for some reason. Maybe it was too sweet.

Around 5:50, Soda knocked on the door. I answered it, told Steve I was going out with Soda and left.

We sat in the car mindlessly watching the movie. There was an awkward silence and I couldn't take it.

"Why is it so quiet?" I asked him.

"Dunno," he said and he looked at me for awhile. I stared back and soon we were just staring at each other instead of paying the slightest bit of attention to the movie. I did notice, however, when it was over and showered him with my coke. He returned it with his coke and I thought I was crazy for taking a shower before I left. I threw my popcorn at him in handfuls. He dodged it and launched his own at me. I started picking the popcorn out of my hair when we were done. We left the Nightly Double, which, as I haven't mentioned, is the drive-in we see our movies at.

Soda had the car parked on the street near our house.

"I had fun," I told him before I opened the car door. He looked at me and got out of the car before me. He opened the car door, helped me out and held my hand while walking me to the door. We stood on the stoop and he kissed me good-night, I kissed him good-night back, and soon, we were making out. It would've been perfect, except the door opened and somebody gasped.

"Steve!" Soda said a little shocked and pulled away from me. I turned around to Steve and I was bright red. It feels really weird when your half-brother catches you making out with his best friend. I had every right to kiss Soda though, I am his girlfriend. I wondered how it must be to him, his half-sister making out with his best friend. I'd be a little shocked. I guess he was because he turned red as well.

"Sorry," he said quickly and backed into the house while shutting the door. I pecked Soda on the cheek and went into the house.

"Do you know how weird it is to see your sister kiss your best friend?" Steve asked me as soon as I shut the door.

"No, I don't have a sister."


	3. All In A Day's Work

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- All in a Day's Work

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I woke up around 9 o'clock. I took a shower and got dressed. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and sighed. Work sucks; it really does, especially on a Saturday. I wanted to sleep. I stayed home until 10:45 and then left. I walked into The Dingo and sighed. I looked at the Saturday staff. I noticed a guy who later introduced himself as Chris and a girl named Lisa. I didn't like either, but each person for different reasons.

I walked in and noticed Chris staring at me. I walked over to him.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked him.

"No, my name's Chris, who are you?"

"I'm Jessica," I told him and looked for my order pad, which was not where I left it.

"So, um, Jessica, would you be interested in seeing a movie after work?" Was this guy trying to ask me on a date? I looked at him. He was tall and thin, not really muscular. He had hair that was the color of American cheese and small brown eyes. His face was completely broken out and he had a nasally voice. I'd rather go on a date with Ponyboy.

"No, I have a boyfriend," I told him and continued my search for my order pad. I tapped Lisa on the shoulder.

"Whatta ya want?" she snapped at me. She was chewing her gum hard. She had fake blonde hair; I only know this because her black roots were showing.

"You have my order pad," I told her. She huffed and threw it at me. I could see my Saturdays would be wonderful.

Later, I was arguing with Lisa about tables. She wanted to waitress the tables that I was in charge of. I almost had to smack her. She only wanted my tables because nobody was sitting at them. My day got better when Steve and Soda came in around noon. It was probably their lunch hour. They sat at one of Lisa's old tables.

"I want my old tables back," Lisa said suddenly. I knew why, she wanted to talk to Soda. It wasn't hard to tell, she was staring right at him.

"Fuck off," I hissed, "Soda's mine." I walked over to the table and started talking to them. Lisa got angry at and came over to me.

"What you just said to me, it wasn't very appropriate. Anyway, this is my table," she told me and smirked at Soda. "Your tables are over there," she said and pointed to the empty tables. I wanted to hit her, but I wasn't going to make a scene. Last time I made a scene was at DX, I was fired shortly after that. I just walked over to the tables I was supposed to be working at and sat on one of them. I swung my legs and exhaled.

Soon, Steve and Soda came over to me and Steve sat at the table I was on. I gave Lisa the most hateful glare possible. Soda stood next to me and put his arm around my waist. Lisa stared at me with her mouth open, her jaw was practically touching the floor. I wanted to stick my tongue out at Lisa.

"So why'd you come over here?"

"Ya looked lonely," Steve said.

"Yeah, and that waitress started talkin' 'bout you, and I didn't like it," Soda said. I blushed and smiled.

"Could ya take our order? We don't have all day," Steve said and I jumped off the table. I took their order and quickly got it to them. They left, but not before Soda kissed me on the cheek, and I went into the back.

"How could he like _you_?" Lisa asked me. I shrugged and went to get the drinks for another table. I was walking back with them when Lisa stuck out her foot and I fell to the floor. The drinks fell and splattered everywhere. I got up and got more drinks. I calmly ignored Lisa; she just wanted to get me annoyed. I cleaned up the mess and stuck it out for the rest of the day.

I came home and slammed the door shut. I was really, really mad at Lisa and I found out I would have Sundays work with her. She only worked weekends, and I worked all the time. I decided I hated weekends. She was jealous because I had Sodapop, and she didn't. She was 16, and the meanest girl I had ever met. Chris also worked with us, but he was easy to ignore. I think he didn't like Soda, he was the chef and he spit in the burger Soda had ordered. I told Soda, and he didn't eat that part of the burger.

I sat on the couch and wanted to cry. I just stared at the floor while sitting on the couch until Steve came home.

"Hey Jess, you okay?" He asked me and shook me a little bit. I nodded. No, I wasn't okay, but I wasn't gonna let him know that a girl like Lisa could get to me. I got up and went into Steve's room. I tore it apart looking for something.

"What are ya lookin' for?"

"Where's your switchblade?"

"What?"

"Where the hell is the goddamned switchblade?" He reached into his back pocket and handed it to me. I grabbed it.

"Why?"

"I'm takin' it to work tomorrow." He looked at me and then at the switchblade. He reached for it, because he probably thought I was going to hurt Lisa. I put it into my pocket; I wasn't going to hurt her. I could threaten her, especially if she made anymore rude remarks about me. Part of me knew the instant I flicked out the switchblade, I'd be fired, the other part, didn't care.


	4. Attack of the Chair

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Attack of the Chair

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Steve was trying to tell me not to hurt Lisa when our dad poked his head into the room. I hadn't seen him since the first morning, and he had been drunk then.

"Steve, I have some friends comin' over. Get the hell outta here," he said and Steve left. My dad looked over to me.

"Yer back now? Ya gotta go to, and don't come back both of ya, tell Steve," he shouted as I got up following Steve. I knew where he was heading, I wasn't dumb. I followed him, because that's where I would go. I'd only go 'cause I have no other friends. My only friends are a bunch of boys. Maybe at work I can make some new friends, but not with Lisa or Chris, definitely not with Lisa or Chris.

Steve opened the door.

"You want the couch?" I shook my head 'no' and lay down on the floor, as comfortably as possible. I let out a sigh and close my eyes.

I woke up to everybody talking, loudly.

"Does anybody know if she is working today?" I got up and looked at the time. 7:50, I still had a good 3 hours before work.

"Bye," Steve said and soon Soda, Steve, and Darry were out the door. I looked around. Ponyboy was still in bed, or he went out, and Two-Bit was drinking beer. I got off the floor and decided to go home; I needed a change of clothes.

I opened the door and heard my dad arguing with one of his friends. I tried to open the door un-noticed, but the one he was arguing with, saw me. He grabbed my wrist and I struggled to get away from him. I looked at my dad and noticed he was holding a chair. 'Great,' I thought. This man probably thought that he wouldn't hit his own daughter, how wrong he was. I ducked the first swing from the chair wondering what this guy did. The guy let go of me and bolted out the door. I turned around and watched him leave as the chair brushed against my head. I yelped in pain and ran to Steve's room. I got changed and climbed out the window.

I walked to the DX because I had about 2 hours left. I guess I looked really bad when I saw Soda standing near the pump because he just led me inside and told me to sit in the chair and left. I was shaking from shock and I felt the back of my head where I knew a bump would be forming. It felt wet and cold so I brought my hand to my face. Blood was on my hand, I didn't think it hurt that bad.

"Glory, what happened to you?" Steve said after he gave car keys to a lady. I sighed, should I tell them? Of course I would tell them.

"Uh, I went home to get clothes and this guy grabbed me. He probably was using' me as a shield 'cause dad had a chair. The guy probably thought dad wouldn't hit his own kid, but he was wrong. I moved in time, so I only got the edge of the chair, the wall got the whole thing. The guy got out okay," I said and stared at the ground. The other night, Steve said he never got hit by our dad. He just said really nasty things to him. Why would he hit me? Actually, most of the time he was drunk when he hit me and Steve knew better than to cross his path. This time it had been an accident, it was that man's fault.

Soda came back with a wet rag and started to clean up my head. I spent the rest of the time talking to Soda outside while he filled up tanks.

"Don't come to The Dingo for lunch today," I told him. I couldn't take Lisa staring at him.

"I wasn't goin' to, that girl kept talkin' bad 'bout you yesterday, I mean real bad." We kissed and I left for work.

I couldn't find my order pad; I figured Lisa had it so I found her. She told me she didn't have it, Chris however, called from the kitchen. I went to go see what he needed. Somebody found it funny to deep fry my order pad. I fished it out and looked straight at Lisa. I wanted to hit her really bad.

"Are your friends comin' back today?" she asked while snapping her gum.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Well, you know your boyfriend was two-timin' you?" I laughed; Soda was too nice to do that. I found out about Sandy from Steve, so I knew he wouldn't. Lisa just wanted to get to me.

"Why are you laughin', you find that funny? Well, he works at DX, so I could tell him 'bout that thing you have with Chris," she said coldly. I flicked out the switchblade.

"You shut your fuckin' trap, Lisa," I said and she got scared. She backed into the wall.

"Shut your fuckin' trap, 'cause you don't know me or Soda." I put the switchblade away and turned around.


	5. What You Don't Want, You Get

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- What You Don't Want, You Get

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I felt a hand collide with the back of my head. I span around and my face met Lisa's fist. I swear we had a beautiful relationship. I chuckled slightly and pulled out the switch blade.

"I know more about you than you wish I did," she told me. How could she know more than I am a waitress and I have a boyfriend?

"Really? All you know is that I am a waitress and I have a boyfriend," I told her calmly.

"That's not all I know. If you hurt me, I could have the fuzz on your ass so fast you wouldn't have time to blink." I laughed a little. She just wanted to scare me.

"I wouldn't laugh, Miss Jessica Tracens-Randle," she said coolly.

"What do you know about me?" I asked her. She stared at me for a while.

"You live your father and your half-brother. You were caught trying to shop-lift a switchblade, a convertible was found in your possession, even though it wasn't yours and you hear voices. You confessed to being a kleptomaniac," she replied. How did she know that? Only a stalker would know that, only a stalker and my family. I stared at her, maybe she would tell me.

"My step-dad works at the station. I hate my step-dad, but it's worth it, sometimes. Like I said I could have the fuzz on your ass so fast. So, you can put away that switchblade, if you want to stay out of jail." I wanted to hit her, but I wasn't going to get in any trouble. I turned away and went to wait on another table.

I couldn't wait until tomorrow night. I was going to hang out with these three girls I met yesterday when I was waiting tables. I guess I could consider them my friends. Two looked like twins, they had red hair. Their names were Michelle and Anna. The other had blonde hair, I think her name was Sara, but she didn't stick out to me much. I told the manager I didn't feel to well and I headed over to DX, I needed to relax a little bit.

"Shot, Jess, you can't seem to stay out of trouble," Steve greeted me. I looked at him.

"You have no idea," I told him and went to go sit in the chair. I don't really like to cry, and I shouldn't cry over something like Lisa but I couldn't help it. I pulled my legs close to my body and rested my head on my knees. I wasn't making noise; the tears silently fell down my cheeks.

"What the hell happened to you?" He said quite loudly. I ignored him and sniffled.

"Steve, what are you yelling about this time?" I don't know if he just saw me or if Steve pointed to me.

"Oh," he said softly. I kept my head down; I didn't want them to see me crying.

"What happened?" he asked me, and I felt him put an arm around me. He pulled me closer to him.

"C'mon, tell me what happened." I looked up and saw a little mark on his noise. I almost laughed softly because I made that mark when I bit his noise in the hospital after I made a "scene" at DX. I wiped my eyes.

"I can't work anymore, I won't," I said. He stared at me and the look in his eyes said "why?"

"That waitress, her dad works with the fuzz, and she knows too much about me," I said. I wasn't going to say I pulled Steve's switchblade on her. They'd be mad. I calmed down a little bit and I was just talking to Soda outside. When it was near 3, I hoped Lisa wouldn't show up. I knew I'd be wrong, because what you don't want, you get.

Soda saw her first. My eyes were fixed on her as she walked over to us.

"If you don't have a car, I suggest you go," he said.

"She doesn't have a car, the convertible she stole was taken away," she responded coolly.

"I'm here with my brother," I said, finding my voice.

"Yeah," she said, "are you sure not here with your two-timing boyfriend?"

"I said he would never do that!" I yelled and jumped at her. I didn't care if I was put in jail or whatever. She crossed the line. Soda pulled me off of her after a bit. I had hurt her pretty bad. I was breathing heavily and trying to get out of Soda's grip. I still wanted to hurt her. She got up and walked away.

"What was that about?"

"She said some pretty mean things about you and about me today," I said and looked at the ground. He hugged me and I heard her yell something.

"My step-dad's gonna find out about this, and you'll be sorry!"

"Fuck you!" I yelled back and stared at her until I couldn't see her anymore.


	6. Chap 6 Cause There Is No Better Name

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Chapter 6, because there is no better name for this chapter

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- I am co-writing a fic with darkravenx0 about what's-her-name? Oh, yeah, Sara. It's called Sara, The Nobody (It'll be out the 5th on her name) and there are details in the story that explain why everybody can't remember her much. She's mentioned in this one "...and that other one, oh yeah, Sara." That's just incase you were wondering why nobody remembers her.

I looked at Soda. He looked like he wanted to know.

"She said you were two-timin' me. And then she said she was gonna tell you I was two-timin' you but I wasn't." I had started to cry again. I thought I would have run out of tears, but I only cry on rare occasions. I don't know why this was one of them. I guess my tears were saved up from Mark's funeral.

"I would never," he said softly and hugged me. I returned the hug, but of course Steve came out.

"I'd hate to break this up, but Sodapop, you got work," he said and walked back in. We said good-bye and kissed and I walked off.

I walked down the streets until it got dark. I was looking for Anna, Michelle, and that other one, oh, yeah, Sara. I couldn't find them, so I figured I'd go to the Curtis house. Steve was going out with Evie, and I sure as hell wasn't going to stay home with my dad.

I opened the door and saw Two-Bit on the couch and Ponyboy was too. Darry was in the bathroom and Soda was on the floor.

"Jessi," he said. I still wasn't comfortable with that nickname, but I was getting used to it. He got to his feet and hugged me tightly.

"I missed you too, but your choking me," I told him and he loosened his grip. I smiled at him and we started kissing.

"Ya, um, ya know there are other people here," Two-Bit said after a minute. I blushed and swatted at him playfully

I sat down where Soda had been sitting before.

"It's my turn to make dinner," Soda said and Ponyboy let out a groan. I remember Soda's cooking. Orange broccoli and green meat, yeah, that was an interesting dinner. It was right before I stole that convertible.

"What's for dinner?" I asked him.

"You'll see," was all he said in reply.

We sat down at the table to find green pancakes. It wasn't too bad, compared to green meat. Green meat looked spoiled. Unlike the first time I ate over here, I didn't have to sit next to Ponyboy at the far end of the table. Soda told me to sit near him. I guess that's what I deserve, I am his girlfriend.

I ended up staying the night because I didn't like what I saw when I got home. Dad was drunk with friends. I peeked into the front window and there were at least five guys and my dad there. I was smart enough to go to the Curtis house. I was going anyway, but Steve told me too. I think Steve tries a little to hard to protect me. I'll be fine on my own but I don't think he gets that. Last time I said something though, he yelled at me to go back to New York. I don't want too start any problems.

"Are you going to be okay sleeping here? It's not too cold?" Soda asked as I said good-night

"I'm fine, Soda. I'm 17 years old; I don't need to be treated like I'm 5."

"I know, I just don't want you to get sick," he said.

"Well, I think you need to go to bed so you don't get sick. Plus, Ponyboy needs you too. You can't forget about him because I'm here," I replied. He walked into his room.

I woke up during the night. I had heard the door open and somebody sat on me.

"Oh crap, get offa me," I whispered harshly so I didn't wake anybody up.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Jess. Didn't see ya there." The person got up. I squinted, trying to get my eyes adjusted to the dark. I couldn't tell from the voice. This person was drunk. I realized it was Two-Bit after he laid on the floor.

"Ya gotta move, or I'll step on you. Why are you here and not at your house?" Two-Bit rolled over so he was a decent distance from the couch. I wouldn't be able to step on him.

"My mom doesn't like it when I come home drunk." At least he knew when he was drunk. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. Two-Bit had already fallen asleep on the floor. I sat up on the couch and stayed there until Darry woke up. It was Monday and I was exhausted. At least I could go to The Dingo without Lisa.


	7. You're So Evil

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- You're So Evil

Disclaimer I do not own The Outsiders.

I walked to The Dingo after eating breakfast and taking a short nap. Soda called the house when it was 10:45 to wake me up. It was Monday, I didn't have to worry about Lisa, and so I was real happy. I walked into The Dingo and grabbed my order pad. It was right where I left it. I had hid it so Lisa couldn't destroy it yesterday, and she wasn't here today. I used a real smile today, and my voice had a hint of cheerfulness. Why shouldn't I be happy? My tormentor wasn't here.

The day was going by pretty good, Two-Bit said they would come for lunch, because it couldn't be exciting without him. Two-Bit walked in with Pony and Steve close behind. I didn't get a chance to talk much today, because it was crowded. I didn't look at people, and I didn't waste my time saying "My name is Jessica and I'll be your waitress today," or something along the lines of that.

"You're doing it wrong," I cringed at the voice. My one good day, my one good day and she decided to show up. I turned around to see Lisa. Her eye was probably black, but she covered it up with make-up, like I had done with mine.

"You're so evil," I told her and continued on my way. She decided to sit at one of my tables, figures. I had to get to their table eventually, even though I dreaded doing it.

"My step-dad said you weren't home last night, how come?"

"I was at a friend's house; my dad had his friends over and I don't like to be over there when they are drunk. Is there something wrong with that?"

"You didn't want to get in trouble, but we'll find out where you are staying." She would, all she had to do was find out where Soda lived. I knew she was thinking that I stayed with him.

"Are you sure you weren't with your boyfriend?" That confirmed my thoughts. I sighed and went to get their drinks. I put them on the table, steadily until I got to Lisa. I 'accidentally' tipped it and it poured into her lap.

"I'm sorry, sweaty palms, are you going to pay for another one?"

"Like hell, you are going to give me another one. I'll have you fired." I got her another drink but made sure to put it on the bill.

"I know you were at your boyfriend's last night."

"No, I wasn't," I lied. I scanned the building looking for somebody I could pay off to say I was at their house. I was lucky to see a blonde girl sitting in the corner booth by herself. I walked over to her.

"Sara!" I said excitedly. I knew she would say I was at her Uncle's house last night. I got her a drink and explained my situation to her while I made it look like I was suggesting food to her. She agreed and I smiled.

I went back over to Lisa's table and put their food down, careful not to spill anything. I knew I would be lucky if Lisa believed Sara.

"So, where were you?"

"I was at my friend Sara's house. She lives with her Uncle and mom." I pointed to Sara in the corner.

"Hey! Blondie!" Lisa called getting Sara to come over here.

"What's your name?"

"Sara," she mumbled. Lisa kept questioning her and finally gave up and believed me.

"You might've won this time, Jessi, but you won't win it all," she said. I slightly cringed. Jessi was bad enough, but when she said it, wow! I placed the bill in front of her and walked off. I knew I wasn't getting tipped from that table. I wasn't dumb; I didn't drop out of school because I was dumb. School was boring, and I would've rather worked, but now I regret that decision.

"I'll get ya later," she said as she walked out.

"You're so evil," I responded and said good-bye to Sara who was leaving.


	8. Best Friends

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Best Friends

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I collected about 20 dollars in tips, it was busy. I walked home but I decided to go see Soda. I hadn't seen him since that morning. I saw Steve at lunch that day, and I missed Soda. I walked into the house to surprisingly find only Darry, Soda, and Pony. They didn't hear me come in, so I took a running start and jumped onto Soda's lap. I'm just weird like that.

"I missed you too honey," he said and I kissed his cheek. He pushed me off of his lap and I was falling to the floor. I don't think he meant to push me off that hard. I grunted as I hit the floor and then I groaned. He was staring at me.

"Are you okay?" I started laughing.

"I'm fine, my head just hurts a little," I told him and got up. I sat next to him and he put his arm around me.

"I can kiss it to make it feel better," he said and I looked at him.

"What? My mom used to do that all the time."

"Okay," I told him and he kissed me. Somebody knocked on the door. I answered it because everybody was too wiped out from work, it wasn't like I worked or anything.

"Hey girls, how'd you know I was here?"

"We went to the house you gave us directions to and a boy answered the door and gave us directions to here."

"Oh, that was my brother Steve. Well, technically he's my half-brother but who cares? Um, come on in. This is my boyfriend Soda, and his brothers Ponyboy and Darry. Guys, this is Michelle, Anna and," I can't remember her name!

"Sara," she said quietly.

"Sara, that's right! Sorry I can't tell you two apart," I said pointing to Michelle and Anna. Then, they told me which one was which. Anna was wearing a bracelet. I was going to notice that?

We left the house talking. Sara lagged behind us.

"Your boyfriend is really cute," Michelle said.

"He's mine," I replied. We started to talk about everything and everybody. Sara didn't talk a lot, but Michelle got her talking. It was hard to believe they were a year younger.

"What're we gonna do 'bout that blonde waitress?" Sara asked. We started to think of all sorts of pranks to pull on her. We even made it so the pranks couldn't get me in trouble, but might get her into trouble.

We walked by The Dingo and decided to grab a bite to eat. We went back to Sara's house. The girls only lived their on the weekends because their parents divorced. The girls have four younger sisters. I'd have to kill one of them, or four. I ended up staying the night because I didn't want to get in trouble with the fuzz. I called Steve to tell them he didn't know where I was, and I didn't tell him where I was. I didn't want him to get in trouble for lying. We slept in the basement, the basement! I was really cold.

We got up early because the three had school. We didn't sleep much, we kept talking. Well mainly sharing our evil plans. My favorite was to provoke Lisa in a way that I couldn't get in trouble. Michelle, Anna, or Sara would call the police just as she started to beat the shit out of me for no apparent reason. I would have to look like a baby in public. It had to be public for witnesses. I would have to be a baby, but if it got Lisa in trouble then I was fine. I really considered these girls my best friends. I walked over to the Curtis house, because I knew I could get some sleep and Soda would wake me up with a phone call.

"Did ya have fun last night?"

"Yeah, I finally got to hang out with girls."

"Now I'm hurt."

"Sorry Soda," I said.

"That's okay." He came over to me and kissed me. I kissed him back.

"If you two do this when people are here, whatta ya do when people aren't?"

"Well, actually, we do nothing. It's something you're quite good at Two-Bit," I told him.

They all left and I fell asleep on the couch and woke up when Soda called.

"Soda, what time is it?"

"9:50; why?"

"Soda, you woke me up an HOUR EARLY!"

"Oops, come down to the DX then."

"Okay," I said and hung up. I took a shower and ran over to my house. Nobody was home, that was good. I grabbed a new outfit and walked over to the DX.

"Now that I have some time, will you tell me what Lisa said to you an' Steve at The Dingo?" I sat down on the ground. It was fairly nice out.

"Do you really wanna know?" I nodded and he sat down next to me.


	9. Lisa's JessicaTorture

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Lisa's Jessica-Torture

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- As always, my flash backs are omnipresent.

Soda put his arm around me and sighed. He talked and I listened. At first he started to stall, it was that bad. I yelled at him and he went right to it.

_Flash back_

_Two boys entered The Dingo, and a dark haired waitress went over and started to talk to them. A blonde waitress shooed away the dark haired one. The dark haired one went to a table and sat on it, hopelessly swinging her legs._

_"My name's Lisa," the blonde one said to the two boys at the table._

_"My name's Steve and this is my best buddy Soda. We work at DX, an' our lunch hour's almost over. Could ya hurry up?" The blonde waitress huffed. She realized that Soda was the other's boyfriend._

_"You see that waitress over there?" she asked pointing her pen to the dark haired girl. "She's having this thing, with our cook, Chris."_

_"That's bullshit," Steve said, "that's my sister Jessica, and I know she's not."_

_"You know where she is every minute? That's wrong, that's like stalking your sister. Well she is, and the fucking slut has probably slept with every guy on the east side." Lisa started to enjoy this. "The little whore probably has every fucking disease out there. She only got a job here because she's run out of guys who will pay her. I don't think she charged much; she's kinda ugly and fat. Nobody in their right mind would pay a lot for her, and the guys were probably drunk. She's tried a few Socs, I think, they just don't want a greasy bitch. The girl's a fucking prostitute."_

_"You're crazy. I know my girlfriend hasn't done any of that," Soda snapped and got up. Lisa was jealous; none of her boyfriends had ever trusted her that much. If somebody even **suggested **the idea, they broke up with her._

_"We came here to eat, not to hear you talk," Steve said and he and Soda walked over to the other waitress._

I stared at Soda. She, she said that about me?

"Don't worry 'bout her Jessi," he told me and got up to fill a tank. I got up.

"I wish I could work here again, with you."

"How much work would we get done?" he asked and I looked at my watch.

"Oh, shit, I'm gonna be late," I screamed. I quickly kissed him and ran to The Dingo.

"You're late," a familiar voice sneered. I was late, by 5 minutes. What can I say? I'm not a runner. I'm more of a, well, I don't know anymore. I used to be a train-hopping, shop-lifting, New York girl. Then I was like an outsider here because everybody had their gang, and I wasn't part of it. Now, I don't know what I am. I'm Sodapop Curtis's girlfriend, Steve Randle's half-sister, a Lisa hater. Lisa, why was Lisa _here_? I wasn't that late so it wasn't her lunch hour.

"Why are you here?"

"I dropped out of school; I need to help support my family." Yeah, that was the reason. Her step-dad worked. This was all part of her Jessica torture. Well, were going to get her back. I shrugged and grabbed my order pad from the hiding spot. I thought I could get away from this girl.

"Where's your boyfriend? Did he leave you for somebody prettier? Thinner? Maybe somebody who wasn't crazy?" 'Okay, Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, I can do it,' I told myself.

"Why do you have a problem with me?" She walked off. She just needed a person to hate, and I crossed her path the wrong way. This wasn't over yet, I was going to get my revenge with the help of Michelle and Anna. Oh, and that other girl. What is her name? Sara, her name is Sara. She doesn't stick out too much.

I finished work and dragged myself over to DX. Lisa kept telling her jokes to the other people working here, most likely about me. I was so embarrassed. I walked into DX because Soda wasn't outside.

"Soda has work, Jessica."

"Ha ha, you're funny," I told him, "why didn't you tell me what Lisa said that day?"

"Well, it was bad; I told you it was bad."

"I know, Soda told me. Now she's dropped outta school and is working full time with me at The Dingo. Can't I get a job here? I had therapy in New York, please?" I begged. I was weak, I knew I was, but this girl was mean. She was 16, and I was 18 in less than a week, it was really bad.

"You can't get a job here, 'cause we know you an' Soda wouldn't work. You guys would like talk all day."

"Fine, I'll just quit my job at The Dingo and I'll hang around here all day."

"I'll see what I can do, but you can't run from your problems." I rolled my eyes at him; I could run from my problems if I wanted to.

"Do I hear Jessi?" Why did Soda insist on calling me that? It wasn't as bad as when Lisa said it. When she said it, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. He hugged me from behind and lifted me slightly off the ground and span around.

"Soda!" I yelled when my feet were safely on the ground.

"You have oil and other shit all over you and now it's all over me!"

"What were you two talkin' 'bout?"

"Stevie," I had to call him that, and I was going to think of something for Soda, "Stevie is gonna see if he can get me a job here. I had therapy in New York, and I'm not crazy anymore."

"Why do you want a job here? You have your job at The Dingo."

"I can't go back there, Lisa's working weekdays now too," I told him.


	10. Chap 10 Cause Yet Again There Is No Name

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Chapter 10, because yet again, there is no name!

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

That night I went to Sara's house. We called Michelle and Anna and we met in the park. We would have to start our plan today. We had to find out what made Lisa mad, so one of the twins had to become her friend. It couldn't be Sara because Lisa knew Sara was my friend. It didn't matter which twin, they were the same, but neither one wanted to feel like they were betraying me. We knew it would be a little time before Lisa trusted the girl, so one would have to make fun of me. It wouldn't bother me because they wouldn't mean what they said.

"I know, we could take turns," Anna said.

"That won't work, what if I forget to tell you something or you forget to tell me something?"

"Okay, then how do we pick?"

"Any volunteers?" I said looking at them. Nobody moved. Finally Anna said she'd do it. Anna said she had some tricks of her own she wanted to pull on Lisa. I couldn't imagine what they could be. I'd ask Michelle later, she probably knew.

"Yeah, just don't make any plans for Friday."

"Why not?" Michelle looked at me.

"It's my birthday." It was Tuesday; I don't think anybody remembered it was my birthday. Either people didn't remember, or I never told them. I'll be 18, I could move out of my dad's house, but I wouldn't. I wasn't paying the bills, he was.

"Oh, we're gonna throw you a BIG party!" Anna told me excitedly.

"Who're you going to invite?"

"Our friends, they're tuff, you'll like them."

"We NEED to invite Chelsea; these two will love each other."

We stopped talking about that and we went back to Sara's house. I ate dinner over and decided to go home. I walked in and looked at the wall. There was a dent from where the chair hit. My dad was at the stove. Was he cooking? I already ate so it didn't matter. Steve was watching the television.

"Where did you go?" He asked me.

"I went to go see my friends; do you have a problem with that?"

"Would it kill you to tell us once in a while?"

"Would it kill you to stop protecting me?" I asked him and walked into the bedroom. I got dressed in my pajamas; I had been sleeping in my clothes the past few nights.

"What's new?"

"My birthday's Friday," I told him.

"You'll be 18, are you goin' to move out?"

"No, as long as this house is free, I'm staying here."

"Oh," he replied.

"Don't sound too happy."

"The boss won't rehire you, ever. You're stuck at The Dingo."

"That's okay, I'm fine with The Dingo," I will be, once Lisa's gone.

"What about that waitress?" I laughed; it was slightly evil and walked back into the bedroom. I threw myself into the bed and pulled the covers up over my head. I was asleep before I noticed it.

Steve shook me awake. I was more tired than I had realized. I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed my clothes and figured I would take a shower. Steve left because he couldn't be late for school again. I put on my clothes and peeked into my dad's room. He wasn't there. Where was he? Normally he was passed out on his bed.

I heard some noise in the kitchen and I jumped into the air. Steve left, so how come pots and pans were banging?

"Dad?" I called out carefully as I walked into the kitchen.

"Is that you Jessica? Shouldn't ya be at school?" He sounded so sober.

"I dropped out, I'm I waitress, I don't start until 11, what are you doing?"

"I'm thinking about what we'll have for dinner. You, your brother, me and Denise."

"Denise? Who is Denise?" This was confusing. I have never seen a woman around this house. So where was she?

"Denise, she's been helping me recover from alcoholism. She's my therapist; she wants to meet my family." That was unexpected. I was shocked; this is why my dad made dinner last night and was making dinner again tonight. I bet that chair was the last straw, that guy probably told somebody.

"Oh," was all I could say, "bye."

"Bye," he said, "don't stay out too late tonight. Come home at 6 for dinner and tell Steve." My dad was caring? I loved this Denise lady, and I hadn't even met her already. I had to see if Soda.

I saw Soda filling up a tank. I ran over to him and when he was done I hugged him.

"Why are you so happy?"

"Our dad, he is getting help for alcoholism. He's sober for once and he told me not to stay out too late, we're having dinner tonight as a family." Soda looked at me like 'why the hell is this so important?'

"Okay, let me make this simple for you. This means he won't be drunk, and I won't get beaten up. He'll probably stop yelling at me and Steve."

"Oh," he said. He still looked confused but I kissed him and ran off to The Dingo. I wanted to see if they needed help. I liked to be a waitress, and I was in a good mood.


	11. Phase One

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Phase One

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I walked into The Dingo noticing it wasn't too crowded. I saw Pat, the manager look at me. She looked puzzled, like 'why the hell are you here?' type of puzzled.

"I'm here early, I know," I told her and grabbed my order pad.

"Jessica, you got a phone call this morning. A girl named Anna is stopping by for lunch, she said to start it then."

"Thanks," I told her and quickly made a note on the front of my pad. Anna and I had planned to stage a fight in front of Lisa, to make it more believable. Michelle and Anna are very strange in the creative type of way. I waited patiently as Lisa came in, I figured it would only be about 2 hours until the fight. I waited tables nervously.

The bell above the door rang and I turned my head like I had about a million times that day. I saw a red headed girl walk in. She winked and I nodded. I pointed to a table I was supposed to wait on. We were putting phase one into action.

I got her the drink she ordered, I was careful, and spilled it into her lap.

"What the hell was that for?" She yelled at me. I shrugged.

"Get me another fuckin' drink!" she said looking at me carefully. I frowned; this was going exactly like we planned.

"Fuck you," I muttered and she looked at me.

"No, fuck you. Is there a better waitress around here?" she asked and 'noticed' Lisa. She pointed at her.

"Hey, can you be my waitress, I don't like this one. No, I hate her." Lisa nodded and bumped into me.

"Join the club," she told Anna and they started talking. I walked into the back and Pat looked at me.

"Don't worry about it," I told her. It didn't hurt when I knew Anna didn't mean it. There was a difference between meaning something and not. I walked back out and Lisa and Anna were laughing. This was going better than we had planned. We figured Lisa and Anna wouldn't start to get along that fast.

When Lisa went into the back Anna looked at me. 'I'll call you later,' she mouthed and walked out. So far, this was going pretty good.

I walked to the DX to give Steve the message.

"Dad said be home by 6," I told him.

"Why?"

"He wants us to meet his therapist, so he is making dinner." He nodded and I left. There was a note on the counter.

"_Kids went to work and then I'm going food shopping. Take showers and get dressed nicely. Dinner is at 6:30, but be here by 6._"

Kids? He thought we were kids? Well, excuse me, but I'll be 18 Friday, and I'm not a kid. I sighed and took a shower. I brushed out my hair, so it would be straight when it dried within the next two hours. I pulled on a skirt and a nice blouse. I hadn't worn a skirt in a while; it was easier to wear pants.

Steve came in and I gave him the note. He took a shower and put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, nothing new. Dad came in around 5:40, ten minutes after Steve. He started to cook. I never knew he could cook, and I was more afraid of eating his food than I had been of trying Soda's.

Denise had light brown hair that was cut short. She had glasses over her brown eyes. My dad welcomed her with a hug. He never seemed like the hugging type, but that was when he was drunk. He was sober. We "kids" were introduced as Steven and Jessica. Steve had told her to call him Steve. I had never known Steven was his real name, although I had considered it but everybody called him Steve so I never bothered to ask. I told her Jessica was fine for me because I couldn't stand Jessi (although I was getting used to it when Soda called me it) and Jess was what my friends called me. Even if this lady had helped my dad become sober, I wasn't going to be her friend.

We ate dinner and I guess everything went fine until she asked about mom. She asked the usual questions: How old are you? Do you go to school? Do you work? Where do you work? The list goes on and on. I answered them all with the 17 going-on 18, no, yes, The Dingo, blah, blah, blah.

"So your mother died?" She asked looking at me and Steve. Did she think we were like twins or something? Dad probably didn't go into that story.

"Shoot, her mother died. I haven't seen my mother since I was a baby. She got jailed for something." Steve cleared it up.

"You're not twins? You look a lot alike."

"Nope, he's my half-brother. Didn't even know he existed 'til about eight months ago. I'll be 18 on Friday; he's about six months behind me."

"Oh," she said and then looked at my dad, "I thought you said you're wife died."

"Well, she was my wife once," he said looking at his plate. I looked at him.

"Liar," I said quietly, "mom said you never married her. You left her in the delivery room for _his _mom." I pointed at Steve. I was glad he wasn't drunk, because I knew I would've gotten hit.

"You were a baby when this happened, not even born. I had gotten drunk with his mom. I loved your mom."

"Yeah, that's how come I never knew you until eight months ago. You never even called." I finished picking at the food on my plate and dropped it into the sink.

"BYE!" I shouted and walked out of the house. I just had to hope he wouldn't be drunk when I got home. I sat on the porch of Soda's house for a while wondering if Steve would come.


	12. Silence

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Silence

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I saw Steve walking down the street.

"I figured you'd be inside," he said when he almost tripped over me. I didn't say anything.

"Dad said quite a few _nice _things about you. The name Jessica has a few nice cusses after it now. If Denise wasn't there, you'd be dead." I got up. I walked inside and straight to the kitchen. I was hungry; dad's spaghetti wasn't very good looking. The noodles were slightly undercooked and the sauce was watery. I've said it before, I don't eat a lot. I won't unless I'm really hungry, and for some reason I was. Dad's food just looked, I can't even describe it. I pulled out some chocolate cake and got a glass of milk. I started to look for the forks.

"Throw me a beer," Steve ordered and I lightly threw him a beer. I don't see why he drank. Didn't he see what the crap did to dad? He caught it and I continued my search for the forks. I found one and ate the cake. I carefully put the stuff in the sink and sat down on the floor leaning against the couch.

"Don't even say hi to us anymore?" Two-Bit asked. I didn't even look at him. I was in a bad mood. How could he lie to her? I had been lied to before but it never hurt. It was about my mom, I guess that was different. When I was really mad like this, I just didn't talk. I shut my mouth and unless something really important happened, I wouldn't say anything. I could shut off my other emotions so not even the funniest things could make me laugh, or the saddest things couldn't even make my cry.

"Are you okay?"

"She's mad at the ol' man, he lied about her to the therapist," Steve said, "I guess she shuts her trap when she's mad."

"I'm gonna get her to talk or make noise." So now this was turning into a game? 'Well, yeah, right, not even you, Soda, can do that,' I thought. I was really mad and stubborn. Soda left and I didn't even know where he went until he jumped over the back of the couch and tickled my sides. I couldn't even laugh, I was so mad. I told you my emotions shut down and I'm in a dream world or something. For some reason, I wanted to laugh but all I could do was tighten my arms to my sides and pull away from him.

"Wanna go out with me tomorrow?" I thought about it, I didn't have anything to do. I nodded.

"So, what do you wanna do?" I shrugged. He wasn't going to get me to talk. Couldn't they tell?

"She could challenge Ponyboy to a silence competition. Would ya do that?" I rolled my eyes. No matter how hard they tried, I wasn't talking. I was stubborn. Suddenly, somebody grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. I looked at the person, it was Soda.

"Jessica," he started. Did he call me Jessica? Normally he called me Jess or Jessi; I was used to those from him. He sounded serious. I was really scared, an emotion, I never could turn scared off. Being scared was serious. This was serious.

"Jessica, I love you." I was really surprised. My stomach did a flip.

"I love you too, but don't tell them I talked." He grinned and I hugged him.

"Maybe I should," he said. He hugged me back and we started to make-out. We stopped because somebody started to clear their throat. I jumped and almost let out a gasp. I felt relieved when I saw Steve. I didn't know how Ponyboy would enjoy this, and Two-Bit would make some stupid jokes.

"Jess, we gotta go. Our old man said no later than 11 an' this is cuttin' it close." I nodded. I still wasn't talking to anybody.

"I can give ya'll a ride," Soda said and ran inside to get the keys. He came back and hopped into the driver's side. I climbed into the truck followed by Steve. Soda drove us quickly home and Steve hopped out of the car and headed for the door. Soda gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Jessi," he said.

"Bye Soda," I told him and walked into the house. My dad got up when he saw me.

"I see you've brought back your ungrateful sister," he said to Steve and then turned to me, "I'm not in the mood to yell at you tonight, just go to bed." He sounded pretty calm. I went into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. The phone rang.

"Jess, I know you ain't talkin' so I'm just gonna tell ya that some girl named Anna called. I told her you were in the shower and ya couldn't talk." Crap, I wanted to talk to her, even though I wasn't talking to people. I needed to find out what happened. I'm just like that you know, a little hypocritical. It wasn't a weekend, so she wasn't at her Uncle's house. I didn't know where she really lived. I'd have to find out.

"Are you gonna talk today?" Steve asked as he woke me up. I looked at the time, 6:30, and figures. He has to go to school so he makes sure I'm awake first. I rolled over onto my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. I didn't hear much of what he said.

"…left for work already… don't be too late… bye." I rolled out of bed after hearing the front door slam and looked in the kitchen. I half expected to see my dad and I got ready for him to yell at me. 'Stupid,' I thought, 'dad left already.'

I made myself breakfast. The house had fresh food! That was amazing. I watched some stupid shows on television and decided to head to work.


	13. Leaving

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Leaving

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I walked into The Dingo. Lisa was already there talking to Pat. I had a feeling she was trying to get there early than me so she could find my order pad or something. She gave me a look of disgust, and I easily matched it. I went back to get my order pad and "accidentally" heard some of the conversation. I was eavesdropping, but it wasn't entirely my fault. Lisa was purposely talking loud. You could tell.

"My friend Anna and I are goin' to pick out hair dye tonight, and we're gonna use them tomorrow."

I hoped Anna would like mess the hair dye up and give her a bad hair color. Although, nothing will be able to top that blonde color she has on her head. I think it'd look funny red, not like Anna or Michelle red but like tomato red. I'd have to tell that to Sara if she came in for lunch today.

Sara smiled sweetly when I told her. She said Anna had already thought of something, something similar to that. I told you they were creative, creative in the strange way. Sara didn't have a lot of money, so sometimes I got her a free burger, if Lisa didn't catch me. Pat didn't really care; she said I worked hard enough. I did notice that sometimes my paycheck was smaller.

After work, I walked home and noticed Denise's car in the driveway. Why was _she _here? Dad was probably telling more lies about how he potty trained me. I opened the door and saw my dad making out with her. I'm pretty sure you don't make out with your therapist. If I was holding something, I would have dropped it. My mouth dropped though and I ran into the bathroom. I was bright red, tomato red, like I wanted Lisa's hair. I leaned against the door and tried to catch my breath. Somebody started knocking on the door; it was gentle so it wasn't my dad.

"Jessica, I'm sorry you saw that," Denise said. I opened the door and stared at her.

"I'm sorry that he's told you bullshit. I bet he's never told you the truth. The guy doesn't know anything about me or Steve."

"Maybe you haven't given him the chance."

"I would've, but he was always drunk or hung over. Or, he was always beating me up. He beat me up physically and he beat both of us verbally." Denise's eyes got white. She grabbed her stuff and walked out of the house.

"What the hell did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth, 'cause you only tell her bullshit!"

"Well, when your 18 in two day I want you outta this house. I never wanna see you again after that!"

"Fine, I'll leave NOW!" I screamed at him and ran into Steve's room. I pulled out my suitcase and bags and threw all of my stuff in them. I went under the bed and pulled out a small cardboard box. I kept all of my money in this box, maybe I'd have enough and Sara's uncle would let me stay in his basement. I knew it was cold but I'd manage.

I walked out of the house swearing I'd never return, and I wouldn't. I was stubborn, so I knew I wouldn't. I walked into Sara's basement. It was weird, there was a little shed in the backyard with a staircase that led into a tunnel to the basement. I threw my stuff into the corner and walked out to see if I could find Sara. I did and when I found her, she said I could stay.

I had to stop by the DX to tell Steve. I got Sara to come with me.

"So, Sara, who do you like?" I asked as we were walking. She blushed, whispered something, and pointed. I followed the direction of her finger.

"Really?" She nodded. I looked back and forth between the two.

"Aw," I said and I kept walking. She stopped.

"C'mon," I told her. I tried to get her to move, but she wouldn't.

"I can't," she responded in a whisper.

"I won't tell him. He doesn't bite," I said and she reluctantly got up.

I walked into the DX.

"You guys remember Sara," I said and she nervously waved. I nudged her in the side and she turned bright red, again. She looked at the ground, not making eye contact with him. I chuckled and she stared at me.

"What's so funny?"

"Don't worry about it," I told them.

"Dad just threw me out of the house again, so I moved in with Sara," I told Steve.

"Okay," he said and Sara and I walked out of the DX. Sara was in a little but of a hurry but it was logical.

* * *

I'm bad; I won't tell you who she likes. I'm under strict orders that I can't tell you until darkravenx0 puts up Sara, The Nobody chapter 3. I don't want to cross darkravenx0's bad side. She is about two years older than me, and I little taller. By an inch, but she rubs in that inch. You guys could make guesses about it though! 


	14. A Crummy Day Gets Slightly Better

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Crummy Day Gets Slightly Better

Disclaimer- I do now own The Outsiders

Note- Don't you just hate it when your laptop doesn't work at night? Mine doesn't work at night anymore, only during the day, how odd.

"At least you're a blonde," I told her and she looked at me confused. She wouldn't get it. She asked about his real name and I told it her was Keith. She liked Two-Bit better.

We went to our house, and she went out to go get milk. Michelle and Anna came over. Something was different with Anna, I couldn't tell. We talked until Sara came back.

"What does Lisa's hair look like?" Anna erupted into laughter. That's what it was. Anna had brown hair, it wasn't that much darker. It actually kind of looked like Ponyboy's hair: reddish-brown. Anna wouldn't stop laughing. She even managed to trip down the stairs.

"What're we gonna do tomorrow?" I asked them. They knew it was my birthday.

"Uh, we have stuff to do with our mom," Michelle said.

"Let's go to the movies," Sara said and I agreed. Movies, oh shit! I had a date with Soda tonight!

"Gee, Jess, you look like you just saw a ghost." I shook my head a little.

"I just remembered I had a date," I told them and ran out to DX. I hoped they were still there. I hadn't seen what time it was. I ran in, I couldn't see them. Did I pass Soda outside? I checked the window, nope he wasn't out there. I looked at the clock, they should've been there. I decided to stick around for a while. Maybe they were fixing a car.

"Jess," Steve's voice called. I turned around a little fast.

"Huh?" I asked him.

"Me an' Evie are comin' with you an' Soda tonight."

"Where're we going?"

"I don't know, probably Jay's." I nodded; at least it wasn't The Dingo. I didn't really like going there when I had work. I hadn't been to Jay's yet.

Steve introduced me to Evie; I hadn't formally met her yet. Surprisingly enough, I hadn't seen her either. Being a waitress, I see a lot of people, but not this girl. I really liked being alone with Soda. I don't know why I was so shy around this girl, maybe it was the fact she was my brother's girlfriend. I barely made it through the night. Soda dropped us off at Steve's house, my old house but I stayed in the car.

"Aren't you going?" I shook my head.

"I don't live there anymore," I told him and gave him the directions to Sara's house. I kissed him good-night and headed to the backyard. I laid face-first on the bed and sighed. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Some birthday I'd have tomorrow. I was going to the movies with Sara, everybody else had plans.

I woke the next morning thanks to an alarm clock. I had it set for an hour before work. I had enough time to eat, shower, get dressed, and walk to work. I don't move very fast in the morning. I'm not a morning person, or a night person. I'm a mid-day person. Today was going to be crummy. I liked Sara, but I honestly wanted to spend my birthday with a lot of people, not just her.

I walked into work and Pat looked at me and kind of smiled.

"Wanna get paid extra today?"

"Sure, what do I have to do?"

"Work an extra shift, that girl Lisa called sick today so we had to call in somebody but they refused to work two shifts."

"I'll do it, but can I have a lunch?"

"Sure, we ain't gonna starve ya." Okay, today wasn't so crummy. Lisa wasn't here today so it was better, not a lot better. I'd have to hope that Sara came in for lunch, so I could call off our movie plans.

She did and she was okay with it. She looked kind of relieved. 'Whatever,' I thought and continued to work. I had an hour and 45 minutes for lunch so I walked over to DX after grabbing a handful of fries and a burger.

"Aren't you supposed to work today?"

"Working double, getting paid double, I got a lunch break."

"Oh," Soda said and nodded.

"I need to go, I just figured I'd tell you," I told him.

"Bye," he said with a kiss.

"Bye," I responded and returned the kiss.


	15. Birthday Party

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Birthday Party

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I walked home exhausted after work. My feet were sore from being on them all day and I needed an aspirin, I had a killer headache from the dinner rush. It was about 8 o'clock and I just wanted to fall into bed. I liked being a waitress, but I would _never _work those hours. Now I see why Lisa's replacement wasn't going to work both shifts. I wouldn't the next time it was offered.

I walked down the stairs into the basement. It was dark and quiet but as soon as I flicked on the light it got loud.

"Holy shit!" I screamed jumping down the last two steps to keep myself from falling. There were a ton of people in the basement. I looked around to see who I could recognize. Steve and Soda were in the corner, fighting off girls. Wait until I came back there. Anna and Michelle were talking to a bunch of girls and Sara was putting out bowls of potato chips. Man, I love potato chips. The first thing I did was walk over to Michelle and Anna.

"You-know-who didn't show up for work today, was it really that bad?" I questioned Anna. She spit out the coke she was drinking and started laughing. I guess it was. I walked over to where Steve and Soda were.

"Jessi!" Soda said and I stood next to him. I looked at the girls.

"I see you've met my _boyfriend_ Soda and my half-brother Steve." As soon as I mentioned boyfriend they sighed and went away.

"What am I gonna do about other girls?" I asked him and went to see Anna and Michelle. Anna had stopped laughing, and they were waving me over.

"Jessica, this is Chelsea, Chelsea, Jessica." I nodded to her and she nodded back. She had brown hair that was really curly and was just below the chin. It was a little too short, especially with those curls. It would've looked really nice long. She was about my height but a little thinner. I recognized her from somewhere.

"Are you a waitress from The Dingo?" she asked me and I nodded.

"You spilt a drink all over my friend, Lisa." I rolled my eyes and looked at Anna and Michelle. They should've known if their friend was also Lisa's. Michelle shrugged and Anna seemed a little drunk. She was laughing at everything and if you said 'boo' she would've. I decided to go find Sara.

Sara was hard to find, she drifted into the crowd and would disappear. I eventually found her and dragged her over to where the four boys were standing. I was more comfortable with them and Sara then with anybody else. It seemed weird, that I was comfortable with a quiet girl. Normally, quiet girls made me uneasy. I suddenly realized that Two-Bit wasn't around. It was funny, Darry and Ponyboy were here, but Two-Bit wasn't. I heard him though, and he came over to us.

"There's beer over there," Two-Bit said pointing to the other corner. No wonder Anna seemed drunk.

"Figures, hey, Sara, Anna seemed a little drunk."

"Yeah, well, she can be quite the drinker. I don't like it that much."

"Neither do I," I told her.

"How come you don't like drinking?" Two-Bit said putting his arms around our shoulders. I looked over to Sara who had turned an unnatural shade of red.

"I dunno, never really tried," Sara said. Crap, Two-Bit would get her drunk and she'd have no idea what she was saying, or doing. Sara would do that, because she is a follower. Two-Bit led her away, just as I suspected. She looked at me, and smiled. I don't ever remember her smiling unless she was really embarrassed.

"She likes him," I told the other boys when they looked at me. They all said 'oh'.

"At least she's blonde," I said and smiled. I went to go talk to everybody because that's what you should do at a party. My mom had told me that, she used to throw small parties once in awhile. I didn't remember that much, she would always send me to Danielle's house or send me to my room for the night. I walked back over to where Anna, Michelle and Chelsea were. Chelsea looked at me.

"Hey, I'm sorry for the way Lisa treats you, she's a brat. I'm only her friend 'cause I've known her forever. She gets what she wants, and she's intimidating. I'm scared of her, and I admire you for standing up to her like that." I smiled, she wasn't like Lisa. She seemed to have feelings, and she also seemed to notice other people had them too.

"It's not that big of a deal, she just said some pretty nasty things about me. She's jealous of me because Soda's my boyfriend and he wouldn't even look at her." I wasn't going to mention the whole revenge thing. She could tell Lisa.

"Jess, we're spending the night, just us and nobody else," Michelle said pointing to Anna and herself. I nodded, that was fine. I guess they were spending the full weekend. I kept walking around saying hi to people. I saw Sara talking to a bunch of girls and laughing with them. She was drunk, I knew it.

"Sar, are you drunk?"

"Is it any of your business?" Okay, she was drunk. Where was Two-Bit? I'd have to thank him for this. I didn't find him until the Darry said he and Ponyboy were going. I knew they wouldn't stay long; the girls were too young for Darry and too old for Ponyboy. They were probably real bored. Darry said he was taking Two-Bit before he did something he'd regret.

A lot of girls started to leave at midnight. I had only been here four hours, but I had a really bad headache and my feet were worse. I sat on one of the beds and rested my head on my hands.

"Here ya go," Soda said handing me an aspirin and a glass of water.

"Thanks," I told him and swallowed the aspirin.

"Is Steve still here?"

"Naw, I think he left when Evie saw him flirting with another girl. She got mad and started to leave, he followed her."

"Oh," I said. They basement was really empty now. Only Anna, Michelle, Sara, Soda and I were down there. Sara was passed out on a bed next to Anna and Michelle was cleaning the place up. I got up from the bed and went into the closet. It was bigger than the normal closet, but not big enough to be called a room. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into the bed.

"Night Soda," I said and closed my eyes.

"Night Jessi," he said back. I felt him get off the bed and heard him go up the stairs. I fell asleep a little after that. Anna snored and Michelle was talking in her sleep. Sara was quiet, I hoped she wasn't dead.


	16. Not 'Til I'm Married

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Not 'Til I'm Married

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- I did a bad thing... I pulled an all nighter, and I finally got my laptop running during the night. YAY! It's a crappy one anyway, so I'm surprised it hasn't died yet. It's Windows 95, and a brand I haven't heard of. It's hand-me-down, and it's only good for word processing. I type most of my work on it, save it to a floppy and transfer it to my HP computer. The HP is the family's, the laptop's mine.

I woke up to see four girls staring at me, 3 brunettes and a blonde. I couldn't guess their ages, but I figured these were the twins' sisters.

"Who is she?" one of them whispered to the other 3.

"I'm Jessica, I live here," I told them.

"Does our dad know?"

"Sure he does," I answered, I didn't know for sure. I hated kids, how the twins put up with 4 sisters, it's beyond me.

I rolled over and looked at the clock. 12 o'clock, oh my god I'm dead! I got out of bed and changed my pants and put on a new shirt. I quickly brushed my hair and ran to The Dingo. I ran the fastest I ever had, but it still didn't change the fact that I was an hour late.

Pat stared at me and I noticed Lisa's replacement taking orders. I saw another girl with an order pad; Pat probably thought I wasn't coming in.

"Your friend said you weren't comin' in, I was goin' to call you to get you to work the later shift." I sighed. I was stuck with that shift, well; it was the price you pay for having a party.

"Okay, oh, I gotta give you my new number. I moved out of my father's house." I wrote down the number and told her to ask for Sara first and then ask for me. On week ends she could ask for Sara, Michelle, or Anna first. She rolled her eyes and I wrote it down on a piece of paper.

I walked back home and set the alarm clock. I noticed Sara was passed out on the bed still. The poor girl would have a horrible hang over.

When the alarm clock buzzed, Sara shot up. I pushed her back into the bed and shut the alarm clock off.

"Go back to sleep," I told her. Maybe she'd sleep off the hangover. It'd be better than having to go through the day with a headache.

I walked into The Dingo a few minutes early. The rest of the day went fine. I had spitballs spat at me from boys who thought they were tuff shit. Babies cried and parents were yelling at me.

I was glad when I got home, except for the fact that I'd have to share my room with a bunch of kids. I'd have to find a cheap apartment or something, or maybe I could live with this. It was only on the weekends. It was plain to see that Sara's uncle didn't enjoy his six girls around the house, let alone Sara. How did he manage five pregnancies? His wife must've been a bitch.

Anna had stuff to do with Lisa. She was going to find out what made Lisa mad (besides mentioning her hair that is) and when Lisa would be going back to work. Michelle was going out with some guy and Sara was a little wiped out, not to mention hung over. There was nothing to do, unless I went to Soda's.

I wrote a note because I figured Sara would forget if one of the twins asked her. I walked over, deciding I needed a car again. I opened the door, expecting to see everybody there, but it was dead.

"Did they ditch you?"

"No, they had plans. Steve's goin' out with that girl at your party. He an' Evie broke up. Ponyboy went to the Nightly Double with Two-Bit. So it just leaves Darry and me. I guess you too, huh?"

"Yeah, wait, you said Steve was going out with a girl at my party? Did she happen to have red hair?" He nodded. Steve was going out with Michelle. Was Michelle the girl Evie caught him flirting with? I'd have to ask her later. I walked over to the couch and sat down next to Soda.

"I didn't see you a lot at your party," he said.

"Well all the girls were around you, how were you going to see me?"

"Are you jealous?"

"Just a little," I told him.

"Don't be."

"Stop being so good-looking."

"Then why would you like me?"

"'Cause you're nice." And then we started making-out, but what else was new. The phone rang and I think it was the first time I noticed Darry was in the room. Apparently Two-Bit had left Pony alone at the Nightly Double. Darry was surprised Pony called him and used his head. It was kind of dark; anybody would've called for a ride. 'Behave,' was his final warning as he left the house. I'd behave; I was only doing _that _sort of thing when I was married. Look where it had left my mom, a single parent with a rotten daughter.

"I'm not doing _that _until I'm married," I said. He nodded, he understood. I said bye and kissed his cheek. I walked home and into the basement. I saw Michelle.

"So how was your date, with Steve?"

"Oh, you found out. It was good."

"I wouldn't be mad at you; in fact, I'd rather he dated you than Evie. I like you better." She laughed at that.

"I like myself better than Evie. Have you seen Sara?"

"She was here when I left, why?"

"I can't find her."

"I don't think that's good." It wasn't. If some guy on the street found Sara and offered her something, she'd take it to be tuff.


	17. Mental Breakdown YAY

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Mental Breakdown (YAY)

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- I have no idea where I came up with this chapter. It kind of shows what your mind does when you've been up for 24 hours and you are caffeine loaded. Flashbacks are omnipresent.

We had been looking for Sara for a long time. We even bumped into Anna on her way home. She helped us look for her. I finally found her. She sounded as drunk as ever.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked her loudly. I looked at the people she was with. The Shepard gang, I had heard about them and that Buck Merril guy. I haven't seen Buck Merril yet, but I've seen the Shepard gang and I was scared.

"Whatever the hell she wants, yer not her mother." I noticed somebody else in the corner. They looked familiar; I squinted until I recognized who it was.

"Two-Bit," I managed to get out before I was face to face with Tim. Two-Bit didn't hear me, he was really drunk. I gulped and closed my eyes waiting to be hit.

"Hey, yer Sodapop Curtis's girlfriend. Ya must be stupid. I like the Curtis's just fine, but if yer boyfriend's that good looking, don't ya get jealous? He hasn't cheated yet, but don't ya get the what-ifs?" I wish I had gotten away with stealing that switchblade. I would've put it in his back with no second thought.

"Aren't ya Steve Randle's sister? Ya kinda look like him. Except that ya have a scar right here," he said touching my scar that was above my eyebrow. I shuddered, I hated that scar.

"Don't mention that fucking scar!" I screamed at him and kneed him where it would hurt most. I ran to get Anna and Michelle. We decided we would need a car.

"We're goin' to Soda's," I said and ran, with them following me, to Soda's.

"We need to borrow the car, Sara's in trouble!" I shouted as I flung open the door. He looked at me puzzled, but I grabbed the keys and ran back outside. I drove to the spot where Sara was. They were still there. Anna and Michelle grabbed Sara. She struggled but the two were able to get her into the car. We drove back to Soda's house and I dropped off the car.

"Thanks," I told Soda and kissed his cheek. He still looked kind of confused but I shook my head.

Between the three of us, we were able to get Sara into a bed. She fought and I wondered what drugs she had been taking. I got up early the next morning and decided to go to see Soda and apologize for being in such a rush. I stopped outside the door. The window was slightly open.

"Your girlfriend is crazy."

"No, she's Jessica. I happen to like her the way she is."

"Fine, but she was a klepto-whatever."

"You are too; you don't need half of what you steal."

"But I'm not crazy. She kneed Tim Shepard because he said she looked like Steve." That wasn't it; he was just too drunk last night to know. I opened the door.

"You don't have to like me, you can hate me," I said to Two-Bit and I turned around to Soda.

"And, and if I'm gonna ruin your friendships, you don't have to be my boyfriend." I closed my eyes not believing I had said that. I wondered what he was going to say.

"Two-Bit, you think _I'm _crazy? _You're_ crazy! You got Sara drunk and the only reason she followed you was because she likes you. But you don't care, as long as there's booze!" I don't know what came over me. I backed myself into the wall and slid down, until I was sitting.

"You're the one that disappeared for 7 months!"

"I came back. I came back because I could only think of the people and the feelings I might've hurt. The first day I came back, you walked in and said hi to me like I hadn't been gone. Why don't you like me!" I lost it. I started to cry, I put my head down. I shut everyone out, and I shut my feelings off. I was just sitting there, staring into a black nothingness.

"Two-Bit, what'd you do?"

"What'd I do? I dunno, she's _your crazy _girlfriend." I hugged my legs to my body and began to sway back and forth. I hadn't done this since, since the scar. I started to hum _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_.

"She's _your _crazy girlfriend." I wasn't crazy, I wasn't crazy. I got help, I saw that therapist in New York. I wasn't crazy. What was Soda thinking? Was he going to break up with me?

"NO!" I screamed and hugged him. I started to sob. He rocked me back and forth saying "Sh, Sh, its okay." It wasn't okay. He thought I was crazy. He led me to the couch and I fell onto my back.

"You're just tired," he told me. He was right, I was tired, but that wasn't the reason I was acting like this. The last time I acted like this, the last time I successfully shut off my feelings completely and blocked everybody out and looked into the black nothingness, I was in the third grade before we moved to New York.

_Flashback_

_"Paste eater!" Jessica looked around. There wasn't any paste in sight._

_"But, but there isn't any paste."_

_"That's 'cause you ate it all, duh!"_

_"I DIDN'T EAT THE STUPID PASTE!" she shouted at the blonde headed boy. He was one of the popular kids, and Jessica wasn't. Jessica was sort of tall and really thin. She had pale skin and dark hair. She looked scary, almost like the ghosts you would see in a horror movie._

_"How come you don't got a daddy?" Jessica hated questions about her dad. Her mom never mentioned him she never mentioned him, nobody mentioned him. He called her names that seemed bad to a third grader: bed wetter, paste eater, nose picker, and cry baby, all of those other things. Jessica didn't even have a friend to stick up for her._

_She closed her eyes and started to hum the first thing that popped into her mind: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She sat on her chair with her legs hugged to her body and she rocked back and forth. She couldn't feel any emotions or hear anybody. She only saw black and heard the hum. That was, until she fell off the chair. She fell forward into the desk, banging her forehead against it and then fell onto the floor._

_"Loser," he snorted and kicked the chair over onto her. She kept herself from crying but knew she would get her revenge on Peter Hopkins, if it was the last thing she did as a third grader in Pennsylvania._

_The teacher came over and pulled the chair off of her. Jessica was noted as 'clumsy' because the other students picked on her and she never concentrated on other things. She knew when she moved it would be different. She wiped her forehead and wiped the blood off her hand with her skirt. The teacher called the ambulance. Jessica's mom carried her out of the hospital and promised her they were moving soon. As for now, Jessica wouldn't have to go back to school._

She rubbed her scar which had started to hurt. It was the only thing that reminded her of that embarrassment. She sighed and fell back asleep itching at the scar.


	18. I Never Ate Paste

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- I Never Ate Paste

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- Flashbacks are omnipresent. Jessica was a tortured kid in third grade. Paste eater, wow, that was bad. In the first flashback here, you will find out a little of why she hates something.

Why had Two-Bit been so mean to me? Oh, that's right, he was drunk. I also probably ruined the fun time he was having with Sara. If her mother had found out she was drunk, Sara would've been dead. I turned onto my stomach remembering why I was on the couch in the first place. I had completely humiliated myself. I went into one of my 'spells'. I had embarrassed myself in front of Soda. Hopefully Two-Bit was so drunk that he didn't remember. I felt my scar, the only thing that would ever remind me of when I was nothing.

"How are you feeling?" Soda asked when he walked through the door.

"Go back to work," I told him.

"It's late; I don't have work right now." I looked at the time. It was late.

"I'll go home," I told him and sat up. Oh, my head hurt like I was beaten with a bunch of clubs. I rested my head on the couch.

"I already told Michelle you were sick and you were spending the night here. Darry'll be home soon, Ponyboy should be around. I hope Two-Bit didn't take him anywhere. He's way too drunk. He didn't mean what he said to you this morning. What had happened this morning?"

"Two-Bit was getting me aggravated so I shut my body down. I shut off my emotions and some of my senses. All I could see was black. Last time I did that was third grade," I told him. Unknowingly, I ran a finger over my scar. It wasn't big. It looked like a normal scar that would've been put there by a desk, a nice straight line, mainly from the stitches. I can't believe I brought up third grade. I stopped talking after I realized I did. Third grade was unbelievably bad. It all started the summer before it.

_Flashback_

_"Promise me you'll write?" a girl asked Jessica. Jessica nodded and watched the girl climb into the car. She hurried into the house to begin a letter. Jessica's only friend was leaving her; she'd be an open target. _

_On the first day of third grade Jessica came in wearing her nicest blouse and skirt. She was poor, but didn't want people to know. People knew anyway._

_"Jessi doesn't have Lilly here no more, we can pick on the paste eater again. Jessi is such a baby name," a voice sneered. It belonged to Peter. She wanted to punch Peter but she wouldn't. Peter continued to pick on her and he got his friends involved in it. Peter was popular, so everybody did what he did._

Third grade was the worst. I'd always say I'd have my revenge on that Peter boy, but I could careless now. I had Soda and a great group of friends.

"What happened in third grade?" I shivered at the mention of third grade.

"Remember when Lisa was saying things about me at The Dingo?" He nodded.

"It was worse, nothing can match third grade." It probably was the worst thing. I didn't have any friends to help plan my revenge and the time I had to get stitches, my mom made me look like a coward. I had gotten phone calls from a girl who pretended to be my friend that moved away. Once my mom gave me the phone, it was just a bunch of kids were calling me names. Nobody had believed me; everybody thought their kid was perfect.

"You don't have to talk about it."

"I wasn't going to," I responded. I just realized I missed work today.

"Did somebody tell the manager I was sick?"

"I think the girl that used to have red hair did." I nodded. Anna was going into talk to her "friend", Lisa and to tell Pat I was sick.

"How's Steve?" I was bored, so I figured I'd make conversation.

"He's good; he had fun on his date last night."

"I heard; Michelle had fun too. I like her better than Evie."

"She likes you better than Evie does. After your party when Steve was apologizin' she broke up with him. Then she said some things 'bout you an' 'bout Steve."

"Well, lots of people say things about me." Like Peter calling me paste eater.

"I don't get it! I never ate fuckin' paste!" He gave me a look. I ignored him and I tried to figure out why I was called paste eater. I didn't eat it, ever.

I moved to Pennsylvania when I was going into first grade. I had moved everywhere. I was born where I lived now, not the house, just the town. As soon as I was a month old, my mom moved to Tennessee, I went to kindergarten there, but then we moved to Pennsylvania. After I got my scar, we moved to New York. I spent the best part of my life in New York. Wait; forget that, the best part of my life I spent here.

When I first moved there, I guess I looked awkward. I was pale skinned with dark hair that reached my waist. I was tall and thin. I was really quiet and I stayed to myself a lot.

_Flashback_

_Jessica came into the classroom and sat down at a desk in the front. A blonde haired boy came over to her and put his stuff on the desk._

_"Move outta my desk." She shook her head and looked at the ground._

_"It's **my **desk."_

_"Peter Hopkins, it ain't your desk. If she was here, she can sit here!" A dark haired girl with crystal blue eyes smiled at Jessica._

_"Lilly, you can shut your trap! You don't know what my desk is or not!"_

_"Peter, go eat paste."_

_"I don't eat paste. Hey, girl, what's your name?"_

_"Jessica," she mumbled quietly._

_"Huh?" he asked her._

_"Jessica Tracens," she answered slightly loudly._

_"Hey everybody," everybody looked at him, "Jessica Tracens eats paste!" He pointed at Jessica and started laughing._

_"Peter Hopkins picks his nose and eats it!" Lilly shouted back. Peter looked at Lilly picked his stuff off of the desk and mumbled something under his breath._

_"Don't let Peter get to you, he just ain't smart, and sorta mean." _

Lilly had been my only friend and she ended up moving two summers after. That's when Peter started making fun of me a lot. He always had made fun of me, just not a lot because people were sort of afraid of Lilly. She was kind of mean, which might be part of why nobody became my friend. Also, Peter was popular so whatever he said they did. So if he said I was a bed wetter, they would believe him.


	19. Chap 19 I'm Not Good With Naming Chapter

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Chapter 19, I'm Not Good with Naming Chapters

Disclaimer- I do now own The Outsiders

Note- It's a lot of talking, I know. I just had these different conversations planned but I couldn't get a lot of information to go with them. Maybe next chapter there will be some.

"What are you talking about? I never said anything about paste." I turned my attention to Soda.

"Forget I mentioned it," I told him and looked at my feet.

"Are you going to have dinner?"

"I'm not very hungry," I lied. I didn't want to bother them and I wanted to go home.

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Uh, well, yeah, but, I like you crazy. I love you." I smiled.

"I love you too. Can I go home?" He sighed.

"I told you, you're staying here tonight. Why aren't you hungry? You ate nothing all day today."

"I'm just not. Is Steve coming?"

"I think so." I don't know why I wanted to know. I wanted to stop talking about me. I didn't want anybody to know about Peter. If I ever saw the kid again I'd have to kill him. He's causing me all this pain. It's his fault I'm not comfortable with the name Jessi.

When I went to New York, it was different. I acted differently, so I wouldn't be called names. I was instantly tuff and I became friends with Danielle, who was the most popular girl. It was so different to be popular. I made fun of kids, even though I knew it hurt.

"I'm a little hungry, what's for dinner?"

"I have no clue; it's Darry's turn to make dinner." The door opened and I hoped it was Darry. It wasn't, it was Ponyboy. The door opened another time, this time it was Steve and Two-Bit.

"Two-Bit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said, I was mad. You called me crazy and you didn't know the whole story."

"Sorry I called you crazy. I'd hug ya or somethin', but your boyfriend is right there." I rolled my eyes and hugged Soda.

"Are you jealous?" I asked him.

"Of you? No." Why would I care if he was jealous of me?

"No, I meant are you jealous of Soda?"

"For what? I'm 10 times better looking then him." I wasn't saying that because he was in the room and my boyfriend. I thought he was really good looking the first time I saw him.

"Better looking than Soda? You're the crazy one, nobody can beat him." I kissed Soda's cheek.

"Well, your blonde friend doesn't think so." He was talking about Sara.

"Sara? Have you seen her?" What did he do? If he hurt her, I'd tear him apart.

"Not since last night, after you dragged her away from a good time." It wasn't only me, and she had no idea what she was doing.

"Hey, his girlfriend did too," I said pointing to Steve.

Darry came home and threw some chickens in the oven. They came out okay, and even though I was hungry, I didn't eat much. After dinner, Soda got some quilts out of the closet and a pillow. Then I watched him bake the chocolate cake. I didn't bake; I'd burn down the house if I did. He put too much sugar in the frosting. Now I knew the difference between his cakes and Darry's. Darry's tasted better.

"That's too much sugar," I said finally. He looked at me.

"You put too much sugar in the frosting. It makes it too sweet"

"You make it."

"Do you like your house?"

"Yeah," he said wondering why this had anything to do with cake.

"Then I won't. I'd burn your house down."

"My frosting isn't too sweet. I happen to like sweet stuff." I shrugged and went into the other room. I laid down on the couch and pulled a blanket over me. I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up before everybody else and I put the quilts away. I walked out of the house, it was still dark. I went home. Sara was on the couch and Michelle and Anna were in the beds downstairs. Their sisters occupied the other four beds so I had a bunch of blankets piled on the floor. It was about 4 in the morning so I went to take a walk.

It was quiet and I liked it like that. I walked around the east side for a while and it started to get light out. I walked home again to see if Anna was awake. I had to see what she knew. I found out that if you mentioned Lisa's hair she would hurt you, most likely kill you. She didn't like to be called Lease. That was all she knew for today. I really wanted to know what Lisa's hair looked like, but I would have to wait 3 hours. The phone rang and Michelle picked it up.

"Lemme see if she's here," I heard her say. She looked at me.

"It's Soda, are you here?" I shook my head 'no'.

"No, I'll tell her you called." She hung up the phone and looked at me.

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"No, I just don't wanna hear him be mad at me for leaving."

"Oh, 'cause if you did, Anna doesn't have a boyfriend."

"In her dreams," I told her.

"Yeah, I know. How did you know?" I smacked her with the pillow. She gasped and hit me over the head. When Sara woke up she looked at us like we were crazy.


	20. I Can't Name Chapters

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- I Can't Name Chapters

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- This is probably my shortest chapter.

The phone rang a second time. It was for Anna and as soon as she hung up she ran out. I wondered what it could be. About an hour later, Anna showed up with this huge grin on her face.

"What?" I asked her impatiently.

"Lisa, oh my gosh, Lisa's mom and step-dad are divorcing. It gets better, her mom was cheating on him and now she's pregnant. I told Lisa I wasn't her friend anymore after finding this out though." My mouth opened. I could totally humiliate Lisa from now until she dies. I let out a laugh, this was too great.

I walked into work, not sure if I was going to use the information now. I wouldn't, I didn't want to risk getting fired at work. I didn't need a public place anymore, now that Lisa didn't have a step-father with the fuzz.

"Hey Lease," I called grinning. I could still annoy her. She ignored me and rolled her eyes. After work, it wasn't so bad, I went home.

"Are ya gonna beat up Lisa?"

"Yeah, don't come and don't tell anybody," I said with dead seriousness in my voice. Michelle nodded and went to her bed. She pulled up the mattress and grabbed something from underneath it. She threw it at me and I looked at it. It was familiar, it was Steve's switchblade?

"How'd you get this?"

"Steve gave it to me," she said. I nodded. He'd give his girlfriend of about three days his switchblade, but not even his sister? Oh well, I guess that's how things go.

I got up and left after a series of 'good lucks'. I walked around hoping to find Lisa. I did and I didn't even care that I found her right in front of the DX.

"Hey Lease, wanna settle this? Just you and me, right now." I had the switchblade in my pocket. I wasn't going to pull it until the end. I don't remember the rest, but soon she was on the ground, stomach first. I was sitting on my knees on her back. I had the switchblade out now.

"I could kill you right now," I told her. She tensed up. I scratched up her face, just to scare her. I put the tip of the blade near her throat.

"JESSICA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I heard somebody yell. The switchblade was yanked out of my hand and I was pulled off of Lisa. I was staring at Steve. He held my arms tightly or I would've run.

"It's none of you god damn business."

"It is, when it's my switchblade." I kicked Steve's shin and walked to the house. Michelle was on the phone.

"How'd it go?" Anna asked me.

"I would've killed her, but your fucking boyfriend got in the way," I said looking at Michelle. Michelle hung up the phone.

"Maybe you shouldn't have tried to kill her." I got all my stuff and walked out of the house. I passed Sara on the stairs. She looked at me but I pretended like I didn't notice her. I walked to Soda's house and threw the stuff on the couch, nobody was home. I walked to the park and sat on the swing. It finally hit me. I could've killed her. The thing is, would I have killed her?


	21. I'm Crazy

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- I'm Crazy

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

I sat on the swing for a long time wondering if I would've killed her. I felt like I could and I had the opportunity. Now I was in fight with her, mad at Steve and I think Michelle was mad at me. I was wondering whether I would stay out here or go back to Soda's. I was tempted to go back when it started to rain, but I decided not too. It was quiet out here, even if it was cold.

"Jessica," Sara yelled. She ran towards me.

"C'mon Jess, everybody is worried about you." She grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I followed her, I wasn't paying attention. I was in thought, but I have no idea about what. She walked to Soda's house and knocked on the door. Darry answered it.

"I found her," she said and walked back. I was tempted to run, but I was pulled into the house.

"God, you're soaked Jessi." I didn't say anything. I sat on the couch and looked ahead. It wasn't the nothingness. I was aware of what was going on, I could see people and I could feel things. I was feeling scared.

"You're gonna get sick." Somebody threw a blanket at me. I let it fall near me, but I didn't bother to pick it up. They didn't care about me a lot. I wanted to go to the nothingness. I felt good when I went to the nothingness. I pulled my legs to my body and closed my eyes. My body shivered slightly, but I didn't mind. I started to hum _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_ hoping that it would maybe send me into the nothingness.

"Didn't she do this yesterday? Nobody call her crazy." They could call me crazy, I was crazy. I knew it. I would've killed Lisa. I would've killed her; there was no doubt in my mind now. I couldn't go to the nothingness; I wasn't mad enough, or upset enough.

Finally, I opened my eyes and leaned back.

"I would've killed her. I would've killed her."

"What're you talking about?"

"Remember when I went outside at the DX today? Jess was there, she had my switchblade up to that other waitress. She could've killed her." Thanks for telling them Steve. The room went deathly silent and I closed my eyes. I started humming really loud; I wanted to get out of here. I swayed back and forth quickly, probably scaring the shit out of half the people there. I went into the nothingness. I couldn't see anything or heard anything. I wasn't sure if I was humming anymore.

I felt somebody grab me and I tried to move but I couldn't. Somebody was saying something, but I couldn't tell what it was. I started to relax because I realized I couldn't fight these people. I leaned into whoever was holding me.

"You what?" somebody screamed at me when I opened my eyes. I pulled out of Soda's arms and ran out of the house. I went to the park and screamed.

"I SHOULD'VE KILLED HER!" I sat down in the middle of the park and cried. I fell asleep there and woke up when the rain stopped and the sun started to shine. I walked to Soda's and looked through the window. Nobody was inside, which was good. I checked the clock it was around 8. I took a shower and went into the kitchen. There was a note on the table.

_Jessi-_

_If you stop by here, don't stay here. Come to DX to see me. I want to know what happened yesterday._

I decided I'd go, he couldn't be that mad at me. He was outside; it was kind of nice out now. The ground had puddles on it. I walked over to him and waved. I looked to my feet because I was nervous.

"Was Steve telling the truth last night, were you going to kill that girl?"

"I would've, if he hadn't stopped me." My eyes were wearing a hole into my shoe.

"You can hate me, I'll still love you."

"I wouldn't hate you. She said those things about you, but I can't believe you almost killed her. Isn't she gonna tell her step-dad?"

"Her mom and he divorced." Why was it? She was cheating on him and she was pregnant? Yeah, that sounded right. I kept looking at my feet.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm crazy, Steve's mad at me and so is Michelle." I thought she was one of my best friends.

"They aren't mad at you. Steve couldn't believe how he found you and Michelle, well, I don't know."

"I can't even apologize now 'cause they're at school." I'm so stupid I dropped out. I could've been finishing school and then going to college.

"Will they stop by at lunch?"

"No," they were mad at me. When was school over anyway?

"I gotta go, I wanna get there before Lisa tears my stuff apart. Bye." I ran my fingers through my hair and then kissed him. He quickly kissed me back before his boss came out.

"Bye," he called out as I walked down the road. I wasn't going to switch my shift; I wasn't going to give into her.


	22. She'd Be Sorry

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- She'd Be Sorry

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders.

I got to work a little early. I wished I had the switchblade so I could finish the job I had set out to do. So I could kill Lisa. I looked around the back and found a steak knife. Nobody would miss a single steak knife. I put it in my pocket. I grabbed my order pad and walked to the front. I saw Lisa talking to Pat. Pat motioned for me to come over there. I walked over there, wearing another hole in my shoe with my eyes.

"Lisa told me something about yesterday, I can't have you two working together. Who's gonna switch shifts."

"I won't," I said firmly, "I need this shift, remember why I took this one in the first place?" Pat nodded and looked at Lisa.

"I can't take the later shift; I won't bother her if she promises not to bother me." Pat sighed.

"Fine," she huffed and walked away. I glared at Lisa. She'd be dead if looks could kill. I wanted her dead.

"Wanna finish yesterday after work today?" She gave me a look.

"No funny stuff this time. But I will." A steak knife was nothing funny, it was serious. I was serious about killing her. We kept our distance at work. I met her in the back of The Dingo after. We fought again, but this time it was different. She had me pinned up against the wall. She had a lighter in my face; her arm was across my neck.

"How'd you like to lose all that pretty hair of yours?" She smiled, she was enjoying this. I reached into my pocket and grabbed the steak knife. I pulled it out and soon it was in her face. She stared at me in fear. I knocked the lighter out of her hand. Soon we were fighting for the knife.

I looked down at my hand. Lisa had pulled the knife from the bottom slitting my palm. With my other hand I punched her across the face. It didn't bother her.

"You're being a bad girl," she said and put the tip of the knife under my chin. I gulped, I was afraid.

"Are you afraid?" She chuckled. My hand was hurting.

"If you're going to kill me, do it now." She stared at me.

"Maybe I should watch you wait in fear. I should get my friends; I know they'd love to see this. But if I did that, I guess I'd have to leave you, so I won't."

"I'm not scared, I want to die," I lied. I saw her face expression change. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"I am crazy," I told her. She just stared at me so I swung my foot out and kicked her. After she let go of me I brought her to the ground. The knife had dropped and I snatched it up.

"Are _you_ afraid to die?"

"You _are_ crazy," she said and made a grab for the knife. She did get it since my hand was sore. I gasped when she stuck the knife into my side.

"Have fun," she laughed and left. I pulled the knife out and slowly pulled myself up. I walked into The Dingo and went to the phone in the back. The cord on the phone was long enough, so I was able to sit on the floor. I dialed the first number that came into my mind and sat on the floor.

"Hello?" a voice asked.

"Steve, what're you doing home?"

"Why are you calling here?"

"I need you to pick me up at The Dingo. I'll be in the front."

"Okay, I'll be there, but it might be like a half hour."

"Steve, I can't wait. I _need_ to be picked up **now**!" I was getting irritated now.

"Uh, I'll call Two-Bit and see if he can get you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just call Two-Bit," I told him and hung up. I got a bunch of napkins and put them against the cut and walked out before Pat could see me. This would have Lisa jailed for sure, or at least out of my way. I was out there for 15 minutes. Finally, Two-Bit pulled up.

"Take me to Soda's." He shook his head.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Steve said to take you to his house no matter what you said."

"I'll kill you, take me to Soda's!" He ignored me and went to Steve's. I wasn't going to get out of the car and he must've realized this. He honked the horn and Steve came out. He opened the door and grabbed my hand to pull me out. His face turned to a look of disgust.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked when he looked at his hand. It was covered in blood from the cut on my hand. I rested my head on the seat.

"Two-Bit, take her to the hospital. Crap, Jess, your hand is sliced up and there is a nice gash in your side."

"I'm aware of that," I snapped back. He sighed and walked into the house. Two-Bit took me to the hospital. I got out of the car; I knew at the hospital they'd ask me how I got it. I would tell the truth. Lisa, Lisa did this to me. She'd be sorry.


	23. Here, It Ends

Title- The Return of Jess

Chapter Title- Here, It Ends

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- This is the end. I hope you guys enjoyed this story. If you want I will add another chapter about how I came up with "Outsider Jess", "New York" and "The Return of Jess", plus other things like the creation of Jessica. You guys just need to review and request it.

I don't remember much of what happened in the hospital. I was there for the rest of the week. I told them Lisa did this. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell them Lisa's last name. I told them she worked at The Dingo, the lunch shift. I was brought back to Steve's house where I was told to stay put for a few days. I tried to argue, I wasn't staying there. Steve finally gave in and they brought me to Soda's house. School was over, so somebody would always be able to check on me.

I was really bored, sitting on the couch all day isn't exactly fun. It sucks more when you get fired from your job. Pat said I broke her promise and I didn't have her trust. Why would I want her trust? I'd go get a job at Jay's or something. Maybe the Dairy Queen was hiring, I could get used to the Dairy Queen. Against doctors orders I got up and decided to go to the DX. Steve was working there full time now.

"Jessi," Soda said and hugged me. Did he forget I shouldn't be here?

"Careful," I reminded him and pointed to my side. Luckily, Lisa hadn't hit any major organs or damaged anything. She broke through the skin and I had lost some blood.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He just remembered I wasn't supposed to be here. I was glad he didn't forget, because then I'd be curious about if he actually cared.

"I got bored," I told him and played with my hair innocently.

"You better not let Steve see you here," he said. I sighed and he hugged me. I loved to be in his arms, I felt so safe. I looked at him and we started making out. I don't know how long we were but finally somebody interrupted us.

"Can I have some gas?" a little old lady asked Soda. Soda must've been embarrassed because he got a little red. I felt my ears get hot as well. Soda got her the gas and she paid him.

"Now you can't touch me. You have gas all over your hands." I had this thing about gas. I didn't like it, the smell was nauseating.

I went to Soda's house before their work ended so I wouldn't get in trouble. Steve came in saying I was lucky I wasn't at home. Our dad was the drunkest Steve had ever seen him. Steve wasn't going home for a few nights. Even though he didn't say anything, I knew Steve was angry. He had probably hoped that dad was going to be sober for good. But, apparently he and Denise were having some problems. It was a big problem, Denise was pregnant. Dad said it wasn't his and Denise was swearing it was his. Denise said that she never had sex with her second husband. Wait, what was that? Was Denise Lisa's mom? I hoped dad was telling the truth, part of me believed him. I think it was because I hated Lisa so much.

Steve also brought good news. They caught Lisa. I was apparently talking to her old step-father, so when I said Lisa that works at The Dingo in the morning, he instantly knew who I was talking about. I wish I could've been there when they shoved her into the backseat. I would've loved to hear the sirens and watch her look at me in disgust. I would've stuck my tongue out at her. Soda sat next to me and put his arm around me. We started kissing until Two-Bit spoke up.

"Get a room."

**THE END**

If you guys review and request it, I will add another chapter to this called: The Origin Of, Well, The Story. I guess it basically is the origin of, well, the story. Thanks for all your support.


	24. The Origin Of, Well, the Story

I know I said I'd only post this if a lot of people wanted it. But I have this updating fairy problem and they flick your ears until you update. It hurts almost as bad as when I slammed my finger in the door this morning. I haven't had caffeine in a while, must be the affects of withdrawal. I hope this will stop them. I bring you:

**The Origin Of, Well, the Story**

Jessica & "Outsider Jess": The Idea

This story, no different than the rest, was created around 1 or 2 in the morning. (I have a low tolerance for caffeine, so the slightest amount of it will keep me awake) I was talking to my younger sister about some of my friends when I thought of Jessica. I decided to put together some of my favorite traits from my friends. I didn't know how I was going to use her. My options were: an Outsiders fanfic or a story of my own. I was leaning towards a story of my own when my sister looked up from the book. She mentioned that you didn't get much information on Steve Randle. You didn't know about his mother and his home life (besides that his dad yelled at him to leave and never come back), which was how my mind was changed. Not many people make Steve have a sibling (half, step, or regular), actually, my story was possibly a first.

Originally, I had Jessica being 15, only because it is closer to my age of 14. Then, I figured, wouldn't Jessica's mother have known about Steve? It would have only made sense that she would have told Jessica, because I had planned their relationship close. I moved Jessica up to 17, only being a few months older than Steve. If Steve's dad was always drunk (in my story), it made sense (to me at least) that he could have wound up with 2 kids close in age. Because of the close relationship between Jess and her mom I couldn't have Jessica run out on her mom, so there had to be a logical reason that she was with her father and Steve. Of course, Jessica's mom had to die.

The kleptomania was thrown in for a little bit of a change. If it wasn't there, half the story would have been shot. Actually, you would have had some boring story about Jessica living with them and getting jumped with a rumble and blah, blah, blah. It's not like _that _wasn't done before. New York was her original home because, well, I live in New York.

Jessica's looks were very easy. I needed her to look a tiny bit like Steve to make it believable. I chose the hair color, considering I don't remember ever seeing his eye color in the book. He, to go with that, Jessica's eye color is never mentioned. I never chose one for her; I simply put "our eyes were different."

Jessica became my favorite character I ever created (out of all my stories, not only The Outsiders ones). I think because she is the most realistic. She isn't always happy, or mad, or sad (rhymes!). She didn't instantly know things like that the Curtis parents were dead, or she didn't know about Sandy or the Socs. She knew about Greasers because that was one of the names for them in New York.

SodaJessica Vs. Original Pairing & The Food Fights

The SodaJessica pairing wasn't planned. My mind had originally wanted a Two-BitJessica pairing but then it was like: what would they do on a date? Go shop-lifting? That's romantic, but so are food fights, I guess. The day I wrote the chapter when he asked her and the actual food fight (I wrote them together as one chapter, but I figured it was too big) I had an unusual amount of caffeine and sugar (I think it was the night of my 8th grade dinner/dance). Once I edited the chapters the next day before posting them, I really liked the idea and made it a tradition.

"Outsider Jess": The Ending

The ending of "Outsider Jess" left it available for a sequel, but I wasn't going to write one unless I knew people would read it. "I went to the funeral service, and stayed in New York longer than I expected. I don't think I was ever going back to see Steve and the rest of the gang. I got a job, and the first thing I did was send my fist paycheck to the gang. I needed to payback Steve and Two-Bit, as well as the Curtis brothers."

"New York": The Idea

I ended "Outsider Jess" with reviewers voting on a sequel, but I wasn't going to stop writing with Jess for that wait. While waiting, I thought of something: 'If I make a sequel, how will they know what happened in New York?' I had thought of throwing details into the sequel, but I had a better idea: A one-shot completely about New York.

"New York": The Ending & "The Return of Jess": The Idea

I ended "New York" after reading a few 'sequel' votes. I figured I couldn't have her live in New York all the time because then it wouldn't be considered an Outsiders fic anymore. I ended it that way so I could make Jessica return home for a sequel. That is also the idea. Jessica had to return home and I knew she would make some new friends (Anna, Michelle and um, who? Oh, yeah, Sara) plus a few enemies (your favorite and mine: Lisa and her friends).

"The Return of Jess": The Ending

I wasn't going to make a sequel for this, even though I hated dropping Jessica. (I ended up fighting darkravenx0 to put her in our fic a little bit) The problems had to be resolved, and I wasn't going to move her out, because I wanted her available for friends of my other characters. What better way to end a fic then to have Lisa go to jail, find out the truth about Denise and "Get a room"?

Friends

Jessica had to make new friends, because she needed some that were girls. It kind of gets boring when you hang out with your brother and his friends (even if one is your boyfriend). I am currently co-writing a fanfic with darkravenx0 and the three girls (Anna, Michelle and Sara) came from that fic, because the end of my fic overlaps into the beginning/middle of hers. It's only told from a different POV (Sara's). Anna and Michelle were based on my one friend from school mostly. They are loyal, crazy, funny, mischievous, and smart. Sara was based on one of darkravenx0's friends that I was fascinated with the character traits of this girl.

Enemies

I'm not sure if this deserves to be plural. There was the main enemy, Lisa. Lisa was the dyed blonde haired waitress at The Dingo. Jessica becomes enemies with her because Lisa was staring at Soda, and wanted to be the waitress of the table he was at. He had sat at one of Lisa's tables, but Lisa had switched tables, making it Jessica's table. Steve and Soda walk up to Jessica telling her that the waitress said some bad things. You don't know these bad things until chapter 9, when Jessica asks Soda. Other enemies were buddies with Lisa. There was Peter Hopkins who was mentioned in her flashbacks, he called her some pretty mean names. Well, names a third grader might think were mean.

Reviewers

I cannot express my thanks to all of my reviewers enough. Without you guys, "The Return of Jess" would have never been made and I probably would have stopped writing "Outsider Jess". Thanks so for the reviews. You are all listed below. They are reviews form all 3 Jessica stories.

BlackLightningDX

darkravenx0 (li'l lady)

Kelly

Amelia Liddell

Gena-Curtis-Scott

Goldengreaser

Hahukum Konn

Lydia

AngelFacedDevil

Dragon Blade5

Cobainfan666

XxThInKiNbOuTmYBGxX

Three Faces Of Eve

Memyselfandi

DramaticAngel

Jamea

Two-BitGortez

oOoRikku4EveroOo


	25. SURPRISE!

**SURPRISE, I BET IT WAS A SURPRISE WHEN YOU GOT A STORY ALERT FOR THIS, NOW WASN'T IT?**

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Note- Well, you can all thank darkravenx0 for this. She is, um, _persuasive_, and violent and allergic to peanuts. This has no chapter title because I did NOT want to do it, but Chelsea tied me to the chair and said "Write goddamn you, WRITE!" and so I wrote this which, she is posting against my will.

I looked around nobody was here. That was odd. I walked into Soda's bedroom to see if he was awake. Somebody put their arms around my waist from behind me and I jumped. Or, I would've but I was being held down by somebody. Soda rested his chin on my shoulder and I couldn't help but smile.

"Trying to give me a heart attack, aren't you? If you did and I died, what would you do?" He was quiet for a while.

"Are you actually thinking?" I asked him and turned to face him.

"I'd throw a party," he said grinning. I pushed him away.

"I feel so loved." He walked closer to me.

"I wouldn't, maybe I would die."

"And the world would suffer, they wouldn't have your pretty face anymore," I answered.

"But, I'd be with you." I walked closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love you," I told him.

"I would die if you ever left," I think I heard him say again quickly and quietly, "I love you a lot. Anyway, I came here to tell you that Steve and Michelle were goin' out and we were invited. Do ya wanna go?" I nodded.

Later that night we were at the movie house with Steve waiting for Michelle. I noticed a red haired girl. She came over to us and kissed Steve on the cheek. I looked carefully at her, then down to her wrist.

"Uh, Anna, where is Michelle?" Anna looked at me with a look that simply said, '_shut the fuck up_.'

"It's Michelle, not Anna. You are bad at telling us apart." Michelle was probably sick or something and Anna was filling in for her. I wondered if Steve knew the difference between them. He didn't spend enough time with Anna to know the difference.

After the movie we dropped "Michelle" off and we went back to Soda's house. I sat on the couch while Soda and Steve talked. Once in a while I caught Steve or Soda glancing at me. I wasn't stupid and I realized they were talking about me.

"Whatever you want, man, it's your problem," Steve said as Two-Bit opened the door.

"What's whose problem?"

"Jessica is Soda's problem." '_She's **your **crazy girlfriend_.' Soda came over to sit next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder.

"Look, Soda," I began, taking his arm off my shoulder, "if you are going to break up with me, cut the sweetness crap." He stared at me surprised.

"Why do you think I would break up with you? I told you I loved you, just this morning. I would die if you died." I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"People lie," I said. I remembered saying I'd be gone for a few weeks, then I spent 7 months in New York. Only, that hadn't been unintentional. And, I did come back. I came back.

"I don't lie," he replied. He put his arm over my shoulder, this time I didn't pull it off. He pulled me closer to him and I let him. I felt safe, I loved him. I know that sounds weird, but I am 18, I'm pretty sure I love him. Wait, I am sure I love him. He's Sodapop Curtis, my boyfriend.

"Does that mean you lied when you said you loved me?"

"I said _people_ lie, I never said _I_ lied." Steve and Two-Bit were there, and of course one of them has to but in.

"You do lie, with that whole 'I'll only be gone a few weeks' thing." I got up and smacked Steve across the face. He looked at me confused.

"I said sorry and I thought I explained that," I told him and walked into Soda's room. How do they live in this mess? It wasn't as bad as Steve's house. The trash on the ground, it was gross. I sat down on the bed. I heard somebody come in.

"You don't need to apologize," I said assuming it was Steve. I looked up noticing it was Soda. He stood in front of me.

"Didn't think I had to, what I wanted was, um," he said nervously biting his lip. I started to get nervous as well. He grabbed my hands and pulled me so I was standing up and he got down on his one knee. My stomach did this weird flip and my palms started to get sweaty. No wonder he was so nervous. I didn't hear what he said, it seemed pushed together. He might've been rushing it and I might've been dazed, but I was aware when he stopped talking.

"Will you marry me?" I had turned a deep shade of red, deeper than ever, I was sort of embarrassed. If Soda was facing the door, then he would've been too. Everybody was crowding in the door.

"Yes," I said and grabbed his hands and pulled him up. I wrapped my arms around his neck like I had done earlier. He held my waist tightly and I knew I was crying. I was so happy. I looked at the guys in the hall way.

"You guys can come in now."

"Sodapop," Steve said, "does this make us sorta related?"

That is the true ending. No more for me, just darkravenx0 is very intimidating. I'm afraid of her because she is an inch taller than me. I could easily take her on if I felt like it. I hope you enjoyed it and I know it was basically just conversation.


End file.
